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- 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]
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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.
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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.