10 Things Speed Skater Maame Biney Can't Live Without

[soft music]

Hi, my name is Maame Biney.

I am a 2018 short-track Olympian

and these are my 10 essentials.

[upbeat music]

I was figure skating first and my dad was talking

to my figure skating coach and she told my dad

that I was going too fast for figure skating.

I should try speed skating.

So I did, and here I am like 16 years later or something.

These are 17 inches long.

So like they're really, really long

and they're extremely sharp too.

And so I, and I'm not exactly sure about like other skates

but I have to sharpen these like twice,

maybe be three times a week depending on how the ice is

and how dirty it is.

I've gotten cut multiple times.

Yeah. Cause they're just like super sharp. Yeah.

[upbeat music]

This is my anxiety book.

It says, Create your own calm.

And I recently got it because I was talking to my therapist

and she recommended me getting something

to literally just keep me calm during like competition.

Pretty far ahead I feel like for not only having it

for about like a month and I use it every single time

that I just feel super anxious.

The first Olympics that I went to was like 2018.

So I didn't have the right tools

to like really like be honed in. But I know that for now.

I worked a lot on my mental state and also my physical state

to know what I need to do to be ready for a competition.

[upbeat music]

The next item that I have is my Red Bull.

I love Red Bull just because it gives me energy

for my next competition or even like school

because I am a student at the U.

And not only I skater, I'm also a student,

and so being able to do both just like drains me out a lot

and I get drained like very easily

especially because I'm training so much.

And so having like a can of Red Bull in between skating

and classes, just like, I'm like,

Oh man it's a new day kind of thing, you know.

I don't have it right now

but my favorite flavor is the watermelon one

and yeah, it's just, it's really good.

[chuckles]

[upbeat music]

These are 100% my favorite like lounge wear item to wear.

It's just nice.

And I got it before we left for our World Cups,

like a month and a half ago.

I used wear them every single day. It was amazing.

It was great. And so sad.

I got, I have more charms, just one, one charms.

So don't be like, Oh this is so stupid.

Why did she have the only one?

I had like three other charms and they were lost.

They got lost. And I'm so mad about it

because I like purposely like put it, really put it in.

And I think I was just like I walk too aggressively I guess.

So it just fell off.

I had a moon, my name, like M and B,

and then I had a lavender thing

and I was planning on adding to my collection,

but obviously not.

So the only thing that's left is my Aquarius

because I am an Aquarius baby, January 28th.

So if you ever wanna get me anything.

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So I have three rings that I rarely ever take off

that I just took off.

But one says, Pray hard and I got it actually

in middle school. My friend gave it to me and yeah, it just,

I've always worn it and just pray hard and I'm a Christian,

and so being able to have a daily reminder

on my fingers is really nice.

And then I have this ring that says, 1 Thessalonians 3-4.

I don't know if I should say it.

But if you wanna read the scripture,

you'll understand why I don't wanna say it.

And I keep it on my ring finger, you know

to keep the boys away.

[laughs]

And then this one says, Forever love.

I got it for like $1 at AliExpress or Wish

or something like that in like ninth grade.

I'm a hopeless romantic,

as I just say to keep the boys away,

but I'm a hopeless romantic, and I love like romance stories

and romance movies and TV shows and stuff like that.

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So this is my Fenty skin toner.

I love using this just because I recently got into skincare.

Ever since I was younger, I've always had like pimples

on my face and it's something that I'm like I struggle with.

And sometimes I'm like self-conscious about,

but like using Fenty by Rihanna,

[giggles]

it's really helped me a lot.

Like make my skin tone even,

especially like on the outskirts of my like cheeks

and stuff like that.

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And then, also speaking of skincare,

like staying on that subject, this is my sunscreen.

I went to the dermatologist

and I was telling her about like not using sunscreen

and she was just like, Something that will help

your face would definitely be using sunscreen.

And I thought that because I'm Black

and I don't get sun burnt

that I don't need to use sunscreen.

And also I really don't go outside a lot

because I skate in the rink and she's just like,

That's a really big myth.

Like people with darker skin complexion should

definitely be using sunscreen.

And so she gave me this and I've been using it ever since.

And even when it's not even like sun outside

like if it's like cloudy or something like that,

I still use it just if my dermatologist says

that I need to use it, I'm gonna listen to her.

Because she's the expert.

Maybe it's just like the combination of like my Fenty toner

and also like a few other products that I use

and this like I feel like over the past couple of months,

my face has gotten a little bit smoother

and I'm really happy about it.

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Another item that I brought with me was my Tempo Move.

I love working out obviously.

Other than ice, like my favorite thing to do

is to do weights.

And so being able to have access to this

at my own house and not driving to the rink

or anything is something that is extremely convenient.

Just because like sometimes if I can't go to practice

because of something or like Steve, my coach,

is just like, Okay guys, like you can do something

on your own. Like I can just like do a quick

like 30-minute like weight session.

And I don't, like I said,

I don't have to drive to rink to do it.

I can just do it at the comfort

of my own home and also watch TV while doing it,

because can't forget that.

So really anyone could be a speed skater.

All you have to do is just put your heart into it

and have fun while doing it.

Because I'm a sprinter

like I do something a little bit different

from the rest of the team.

And like my training is a little bit modified

but let's say like for example, like on the ice session

where like the team is doing like 15-lapper

at a certain time, I would maybe do like an 8-lapper

or a 9-lapper and I would have to follow like all of it.

And then if Steve just is, just like,

Okay Maame, like I can see that you're,

you can like push even more.

Like you could do like a 10-lapper

and I want you to be in the front while doing it

and not be in the back.

And like skating in the front

and skating in the back is like completely different for me.

I'm just like, I, I really try to force myself to be

in the front because it's harder.

And like you wanna work hard,

but being in the back is so good.

For like weights and stuff like that,

like in the beginning of the season,

we do like testing and stuff to see what type of exercise

that we need to do to like make us stronger.

So like for me, because I already have like that snappiness,

I can also work on the like my strength

and our weight coach, Andrew, can like make a program

for me to do like a more strength-based program

or like if there's like something going on

and like my snappiness isn't there, Andrew can be like,

Okay Maame, we can do some really like quick stuff

like jumps or like running or something like that.

And so that's kind of what I would go through

for a day at training.

[upbeat music]

This is my bonnet.

I use it to sleep just to protect my braids

because I'm a black woman.

Like I have braids to protect my real hair

and also this to protect my braids

and my real hair whenever I sleep.

And when I was younger, I was extremely bad with wearing it.

Like my dad would be like, You have to wear it.

You have to wear it. You have to wear it.

And I would never understand why I had to wear it.

Like why couldn't I just like, you know sleep

quote unquote normally?

But now like my head feels really naked

if I don't like have it with me.

So yeah. I make sure to take it everywhere I go.

It's like in the middle of like purple and pink

and so it's almost lavender. So yeah.

[giggles]

And it's also big enough to like fit my big head.

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This is my travel blanket, my sleeping blanket,

my everything blanket.

I don't remember when I got it

but I got it as a Christmas present.

I use it everywhere I go, on the plane,

like I have to use it whenever I sleep.

And it's just sort of like a comfort kinda thing

you know, safety, you know, so yeah.

It's like my own special teddy bear in a way.

On my bed right now is like my bed sheet

and then the thin like sheet

and then it's my weighted blanket

and then it's this over in my weighted blanket

and then it's like my comforter.

So I have a lot of layers on when I sleep.

But the weird thing is that I like to sleep super cold.

So like my room has to be like 60 degrees

and that's literally perfect.

Maybe it's also because I wear so much layers

that I have to put the room cold so.

[upbeat music]

Thank you guys for being here

and watching my 10 essentials.

I appreciate you guys and I hope you guys have a great day.

Bye bye.