From cross country skiing and running to ice hockey, sport has always been a big part of Minnesota native Annika Pasch’s life. Today, she’s added biathlon to her repertoire with the responsibility of managing health and wellness for the U.S. Biathlon Team as part of its partnership with University of Health. Pasch joined Heartbeat as she headed out to Europe for her second season wth the team.

What motivated her to become an athletic trainer?

“Just being an athlete, kind of identifying as an athlete myself for so long, just seeing the passion and the hard work that those athletes put into what can essentially become their career,” she said. “I just want to do everything I could to let them be successful. And that's a huge part of my job – just keeping that arrow pointed forward for someone to just keep on the track of success.”

So what is health and wellness? And why is it important for athletes – and for all of us?

“Health and wellness is what gets you through every day,” said Pasch. “And if you're not respecting your body and taking care of it 24 over seven, that's lost time. If you look at it as the athletes, it's their job.”

Her background has taken her to basketball, hockey, and track. And one of the keys for her in her new role with U.S. Biathlon is her own background as a cross country skier.

When describing her role to others who might not know what an athletic trainer does, she compares it as a cross between a physical therapist and an EMT. “A lot of the education and focus is on first response and emergency care,” she said. But today, a lot of energy goes into injury and illness prevention.

 “That's where that physical therapy, that rehab, the diagnostic piece comes into it,” she said. “And then layered within all of that in the education is pharmacology, general medicine, sports psychology, nutrition. We kind of get a little sprinkling of everything.”

As a passionate cross country skier herself, she’s now become one of biathlon’s biggest fans. And, yes, she has picked up a biathlon rifle to try shooting. This winter, she will hopscotch around Europe as the U.S. Biathlon Team heads to Antholz for the Olympic Winter Games.

Get to know Annika Pasch and the valuable support services she’s bringing to biathletes in this episode of Heartbeat, the U.S. Biathlon podcast.