When you imagine what an Olympic-level athlete might pack to take to the Winter Games, you probably imagine things like ski goggles and athletic gloves. For a growing number of athletes, the packing list also includes knitting needles to stitch the whole picture together.
For them, knitting supplies are an essential piece of mental health gear.
"We are very busy over here during some points. We also have a lot of downtime," said U.S. men's cross-country skier Ben Ogden.
"During that downtime, it's essential that we rest and put our feet up and relax to get the best out of our training and racing sessions. So, for me, knitting is a great way to be completely relaxed, off my feet, and just chilling without just looking at my phone all the time."
Ogden this week became the first U.S. men's cross-country skier to win two Olympic silver medals. In the sprint classic, his silver medal win marked the first time an American man had placed in the sport since 1976.
For all his intensity on the track, however, the Olympic-podium-backflipping 25-year-old takes a more mellow view on knitting.
"I suspect this is true for a lot of athletes: I think a lot of us have very single-minded sort of brains, and we really tend to fixate on things a little bit, which can be both a blessing and a curse," Ogden said.
"It's great when it comes time to work on your weaknesses and get better, but when you have a bad day, or something's bothering you and you're not feeling quite right, it can be really draining to just be obsessing over it all the time. And I find that having a project that you can obsess over in a really productive way is a super essential thing for me."
Ogden is hardly the first elite-level athlete to turn to knitting during the intensity of competition.
Team Finland famously knitted their way through the 2018 Winter Games. British Olympic diver Tom Daley went viral at the Tokyo 2021 games for knitting in the stands during an event. And this year, Canadian biathlete Adam Runnalls has developed a devoted following on his Instagram account, where the Canadian biathlete posts his knitting feats alongside training content.
Ogden picked up the habit from his friend and fellow U.S. skier Luci Anderson, who convinced Ogden to knit himself a sweater rather than buy one from the store.
"I wear a lot of logos as part of my job, so I was really interested in having some pieces that don't have any logos," Ogden said.
"[Anderson] showed me a bunch of sweaters that she had made over the years, and I got super motivated and bought all the yarn and all the needles and stuff at the store in Switzerland. And yeah, I've just been really into it ever since."
Since then, Ogden has learned that more of his teammates, including Jessie Diggins and Julia Kern, like to unwind after a long day in the cold with a skein of yarn and a pair of knitting needles. U.S. Alpine skier Breezy Johnson says she knits a new headband for every race. And U.S. snowboarder Maddie Mastro posted all the projects she knitted for these Games.
"We hang out with the same people and do the same thing all the time, and all of us are really into skiing, but it can be tempting just to talk about skiing at dinner, and at breakfast, and at lunch, and all the downtime," Ogden said.
"So having a shared hobby amongst the teammates is a pretty sweet way to have something else to talk about and connect with, and that doesn't cause any stress or anxiety, and everybody can just sort of enjoy."
Knitting's stress-relieving properties are well-documented. The deliberate, repetitive action is found to help lower blood pressure, decrease symptoms of depression and even protect aging brains from cognitive decline.
Ogden hopes that he and his knitting pals can maintain that easygoing spirit as their skills in the craft improve.
"Ideally, we'd keep it as a non-competitive thing. Sometimes when these hobbies become competitive, that's when it's time to drop it and move on to the next one," Ogden said. "But so far, knitting has been a nice, non-competitive outlet for all of us."
But the lack of competition doesn't stop Ogden from setting goals for himself. He already knows what ambitious project he wants to conquer during the upcoming World Cup.
"I'm already planning at the start of next season, in November when I come over, I'm gonna get all this stuff to knit a cable knit sweater," he said.
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