Ever wonder if you had the right stuff for a podium finish? We sent four writers to three olympic venues to skate, sled, ski, shoot, and jump. Now it’s your turn.

Bobsled

VENUE: Mount Van Hoevenberg Olympic Sports Complex, Lake Placid, New York. $75; orda.org

COACH: There’s more “commitment” than “instruction” here, but your sled’s driver is one of a few former U.S. Olympic bobsledders who work the run.

THE REGIMEN: You won’t be shoving the sleigh out of the gate and hopping in like the pros do, but you’re still running an Olympic-level track at up to 65 mph while making turns that climb the track’s walls. That said, you’re basically just along for the ride: Looking confident in front of your friends is half the battle.

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: If you can watch bobsledding on TV, you can do this.

FEAR FACTOR: Like riding a rickety roller coaster — on ice — with the added jolt of putting your fate in the hands of a human driver.

- Charles Coxe

Speedskating

VENUE: Richmond Olympic Oval, Richmond, British Columbia, reopens its speedskating facilities to the public at the end of this summer. richmondoval.ca

COACH: Anything from first-time to world-class instruction is available.

THE REGIMEN: The first couple of laps around the 11-meter oval will feel like an eternity as you learn proper form: a low, aerodynamic crouch that allows you to tap into all the power in your legs. After a few laps, your back will stop cramping and you’ll build speed.

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: It’s just ice skating — but with a much longer blade.

FEAR FACTOR: While you’re ripping crossover corners at 15 to 20 mph, falling and crashing into the boards becomes a concern — as does slicing yourself with 15 inches of razor-sharp metal.

- Diane Selkirk

Biathlon

VENUE: Mount Van Hoevenberg Olympic Sports Complex, Lake Placid, New York. $33; orda.org

COACH: Rick Costanza, former member of the U.S. summer biathlon team

THE REGIMEN: After cross-country skiing as hard as you can for four kilometers, you’ll learn to drop your exhausted body to the ground and lower your heart rate enough to shoot five coin-size circles, then ski another 4-K and shoot again.

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: When your lungs are en fuego, hitting targets with a .22 rifle is almost impossible.

FEAR FACTOR: The potential for falling while skiing with a rifle on your back? Unnerving.

- Brendan Koerner

Ski Jumping

VENUE: Utah Olympic Park, Park City, Utah. $45; pcnordicskiclub.org

COACH: Alan Alborn, former U.S. team ski jumper

THE REGIMEN: You’ll start out with a series of small jumps, progressing to larger ones until the jumps become almost boring. Still, letting go of the bar at the top of the 64-meter ramp for the first time requires balls. Just know that the hill you’re jumping over and onto isn’t really that far below you. It only looks that way on TV.

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: Most decent skiers can stick a landing off the 64-meter jump — in regular alpine skis and boots — in a few sessions. The Flying V takes some time.

FEAR FACTOR: As you stare down the launch track, it’s hard to get the Wide World of Sports’s “agony of defeat” theme out of your head.

- Corey Seymour

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This article originally appeared in the March 2010 issue of Men’s Journal.