From Sprinting to Sauna: An Olympic Athlete’s Guide to Recovery

4 Min Read / Madeline Price
Maddy Price Team Canada

I have been immersed in team environments for as long as I can remember.

Growing up in the Bay Area, my parents threw my sister and I into every sport you can imagine, with the guiding principle, ‘try any and everything and see what you love’. My mum, the artist/creative of the family, also ensured we got to try painting (we would do painting sessions together in our backyard), ballet, and singing/theater. My dad, the daredevil and professional racecar/motorcycle driver, ensured we were on motorcycles as little girls, skateboarding down our driveway, and challenging the neighborhood boys to a race up the street.

Maddy Price Father Racing

As we stumbled and thrived in various activities, soccer, basketball, track, (and singing!) all started to stick. I loved working together as a unit to get a defensive stop in basketball, and being part of a beautiful string of passes, leading to a soccer goal. With track, my love for it came later. But when I caught the bug for sprinting full speed, racing the clock, racing other people and feeling that rush of competition, I was hooked.

Though track is an individual sport, relay events have a vital team element to them. Naturally, the 4x400m Relay became my bread and butter… the perfect combination of sprinting and individual performance while competing for the girls next you. Building strong friendships, working together toward a common goal, and crafting community are things I have always pursued and cherished.

Maddy Price Racing

As I progressed in track, doors started opening—presenting a new level of athletic opportunity. As one of the top high schoolers in the country I began to be recruited by D1 schools, ultimately committing to study and run at Duke University (Go Blue Devils!). In 2014 I got to compete for my first Canadian National Team at the World Junior Championships in Oregon. I chose to compete for Canada because both of my parents and my entire family are Canadian, and I wanted to represent my roots and give myself the best opportunity to make an impact on the world stage. I will never forget the feeling of wearing the maple leaf on my chest for the first time.

Fast-forward, and I have had the privilege of representing my country over ten times—at multiple World Championships and in two Olympic Games. What a journey it has been and still is. I hope to continue wearing the maple leaf on my chest for the foreseeable future, a dream that relies on recovering from the intense training and racing that we do.

Maddy Price At Olympics

We train and play as a team, but recovery has always been an inherently solo act; Ice bath in your tub at home, Normatec/compression therapy on your couch, endure a roller on a yoga mat etc. One of the things I enjoy most about the bathhouse is the social environment—I find it to be a welcomed variable when it comes to my post-workout routine. Going deep about life in the Sauna, bonding over the challenge of a frigid plunge, relaxing and debating about the best restaurants in Durham—I always feel mentally and physically renewed with a Sauna House visit.

But you don’t have to be an Olympian to reap the benefits. Sauna therapy offers a range of both short- and long-term effects. Even less than an hour in the sauna can help lower blood pressure and dilate arteries. Over time, regular use has been shown to reduce resting heart rate, lower pro-inflammatory markers, and improve heart rate variability. As a performance athlete, this scientific backing is invaluable when my tailoring recovery protocols but at the end of the day, the way I feel—that sense of mental and physical clarity—cannot be captured by data alone. I rely on feeling when I am working on a new technical skill on the track, so naturally I also rely on that feeling of rejuvenation and connectedness when I am recovering.

On the track, I am grateful for my training partners because of the ways we support and push each other, day in and day out. Off the track, I am grateful for finding my recovery team with Sauna House—recharging with good vibes and great people. As the saying goes: Hot, Cold, Relax, Repeat!

Here's to more running and recovering in 2025!!

To connect with Maddy, check her out on:

Instagram and TikTok as: @maddypriceless

Website

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Last Updated February 03, 2025

This blog post was written by Madeline "Maddy" Price

In her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, Maddy Price ran the second leg for the 4x400m relay team that finished fourth in the final, missing the podium by just six-tenths of a second.

Price won the junior national title in the 400m in 2014 and then competed at the Junior World Championships where she helped the 4x400m relay set a national junior record of 3:37.17, though they missed the podium by just 0.15 of a second.

In 2016, she competed at the U23 NACAC Championships where she won bronze with the 4x400m relay and finished fourth in both the 200m and 400m. In 2018, after finishing second in the 400m at the Canadian Championships, she raced at the senior NACAC Championships in Toronto.

Source:

https://olympic.ca/team-canada/maddy-price/

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