3,500 litres of non-alcoholic beer has been delivered to the Olympic village - and it could be the secret to Germany's medal success
- German athletes have been drinking isotonic beer at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
- This beer is non-alcoholic and apparently "extremely healthy," according to alpine ski racer Linus Strasser.
- The Krombacher brewery delivered 3,500 litres of it to the athletes' village in Pyeongchang, so there is more than enough to go around.
- But you may have to fight the Germans for it.
German athletes have been drinking beer at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Yes, you read that right - but no, it's probably not what you think. This beer is actually non-alcoholic, isotonic, and apparently reduces inflammation.
Alpine ski racer Linus Strasser is one of the athletes drinking it "It tastes good and it's good for the body," he told the New York Times. "Alcohol-free wheat beer is extremely healthy. That's why it's good for us sports guys."
And it's no joke. According to The New York Times, the discovery was made in 2009 by Johannes Scherr, a sports medicine teacher at the Technical University of Munich who now happens to be the doctor of the German Olympic ski team.
Scherr found that athletes who drank non-alcoholic beer suffered "fewer upper respiratory infections" than those who had been given a placebo. Additionally, Scherr discovered that the beer significantly reduced inflammation. This means that those who drink it recover faster than those who don't.
Now, Scherr says many of his athletes are like Strasser and enjoy the beer - and, luckily, there is more than enough to go around after a shipment of 3,500 litres worth of non-alcoholic Krombacher beer was delivered to the athletes' village in Pyeongchang.
And it might not just be the booze-free stuff that Strasser samples. "Sometimes an alcoholic beer can also be good," he added.
Germany is currently second in the Winter Olympics medal table with 23 medals, so it clearly can't be doing any harm.