PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — Race across the snow on skis as fast as you can. Now stop and shoot a target the size of an Oreo about 54 yards away. If you miss, you’ll ski penalty laps before you are allowed to race to the next set of targets.
Most of us will never try the biathlon, a uniquely stressful sport that demands both physical intensity and emotional calm. But that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from it. Talking to an Olympic biathlete about how she trains for competition can offer a life lesson in managing stress and dialing back intensity and aggression in an instant.