What is the role of physiotherapists at the Olympic games?
When the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic and Paralympic games begin in August, the best athletes from all over the world will head to Brazil to compete in the biggest sporting spectacle on the planet. Nearly 5,000 healthcare professionals including physiotherapists, massage therapists, and medical doctors will accompany these athletes. The role of the physiotherapist varies according to the team and the the sport. Shane Hayes, an Australian sports physiotherapist who has worked with the world’s elite sports teams at the London and Sochi Olympic games, says that the biggest misconception at big sporting events is that physiotherapy is a glamorous profession, rubbing shoulders with the best athletes in the world and watching the highest level of sports from the front seats. However, a sports physiotherapist’s day starts very early and ends late, along with frequent sessions working on assessing, treating, and rehabilitating multiple athletes.
Hayes cracks the biggest delusion of being able to watch the world’s biggest sports stars from the sidelines. “During those sport events, I [perform] physiotherapy in the change room or hotel, often with no chance to see any of the game.” Often, he traveled as the only sports staff and had to be involved in multiple roles as a strength and conditioning coach and even a nutritionist. In team sports such as rugby or basketball, Hayes recalls the majority of his time spent with managing and treating injuries, but also coming up with strategies to prevent them. However, for events of solo athletic ability such as gymnastics or swimming, many aspects of his job involved biomechanical assessments, aiming to improve the athletes’ technique, efficiency, and performance.
While there are sports physiotherapists who are employed as part of a national team’s staff, there are also many of physiotherapists who serve as volunteers at the Olympics. Agnes Ku, one of our staff physiotherapists at Burquitlam Physiotherapy, recalls her experiences at the Vancouver Olympics and the Surrey Summer BC games as a volunteer. “The volunteering process was mostly comprised of acute treatments, since we only saw the athletes for very short periods of time. When athletes picked up a strain or a sprain, they would come over and we would perform basic acute treatments such as taping and icing.”
If you have any more questions, ask away at askburquitlamphysio@gmail.com!
Sources:
Hayes, Shane. (2013). What it’s really like to be an Olympic sports physio. Retrieved from: https://www.myhealthcareer.com.au/physiotherapy/sports-physio-Shane-Hayes
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