The Wellness Conversation: An Olympic Hopeful's Guide to Mental and Physical Strength

Hannah Gaskins, LPC, a USA Skeleton Olympic hopeful, has always had the dream of achieving her goals on a professional level. Throughout her athletic journey, Gaskins has continuously incorporated her faith and positivity into each day, even when facing injuries and setbacks. On this episode of The Wellness Conversation, Gaskins shares her inspiring journey as she faces gratitude, challenges and growth.  

Skeleton, a sister sport to bob sledding, is a high-speed winter sport where athletes race down an ice track on a sled with no breaks or steering mechanisms. Gaskins said that she was extremely nervous before her first attempt at skeleton, but after racing down the hill, she was hooked. While skeleton was not a part of her original plan, growing up as a basketball and track star, it has become a part of her new dream.  

To achieve this dream, Gaskins committed to living and conditioning at the Olympic training center in the summer of 2025. She described herself as the fastest and strongest she had ever been—she could finally see her goals coming into fruition, until this progress was setback by an injury. This required her to redirect her training and her mindset.  

While going through this challenging time, Gaskins faced a lot of negative thoughts and self-criticism. She was able to tackle these thoughts by challenging them with positivity. Though pulling yourself out of a dark headspace is not always a simple task, she said, “looking at the bigger picture has always helped me” [18:34-18:37].  

When working towards these goals, Gaskins also focuses on writing and saying them out loud so she can visualize her progress and end results. Even after dealing with an injury where she was forced to grieve her chance to compete at the Olympics, Gaskins still emphasized that she had to look at the bigger picture to maintain her health and future career.  

Within the bigger picture comes revaluating your plan and celebrating the small wins to get there. For people who are looking to start their health and wellness journey, Gaskins recommends finding a coach. “I think it’s good having someone to hold you accountable—accountability partners are everything” [22:09-22:16].  

Gaskins emphasized that the small wins are so important when it starts to feel daunting looking at the big picture. She said, “Those are what counts. That’s what got me to where I am today, and those are what I’m going to use to help me get to my dream” [24:05-24:14]. 

Listen to the full episode here.