Nonalcoholic beer an essential part of German athletes' training

Instead of reaching for an electrolyte-packed sports drink after competing at PyeongChang 2018, many German athletes prefer a bottle of nonalcoholic beer.

Johannes Scherr, the doctor for Germany's Olympic ski team, told Ben Crair and Andrew Keh of the New York Times that nearly all of his athletes drink nonalcoholic beer as part of their training. To ensure German athletes stay hydrated, the brewery Krombacher has supplied 3,500 liters (just under 1,000 gallons) of nonalcoholic beer to the athletes village.

"It's a really good drink directly after training or after competition," said German biathlete Simon Schempp, who won silver in the men's 15-kilometer mass start event Sunday.

There's some scientific evidence to support that assessment, too. A 2009 double-blind study conducted on runners at the Munich Marathon found that consuming nonalcoholic beer in the weeks before and after the race led to significantly less inflammation and fewer upper respiratory infections.

"This was pretty surprising to us," said Scherr.

Germany is tied with Norway for first place in the gold-medal count with 11 heading into Tuesday's competition.