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Olympic Games: Special Considerations—Medical Care for Olympians

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The Sports Medicine Physician

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to present and review the unique challenges that the sports medicine clinician may face regarding the Olympic Games and Olympic-level athletes. Specific anatomic injuries as well as sports-specific injuries have been covered elsewhere in the text. Several factors make the Olympic Games a unique event regarding sports medicine care. It is not only one of the largest mass sporting events in the world; it often represents the penultimate competition of an athlete’s career. Unique challenges include acclimatization to a new country, travel, geography, foods, and language. The athlete not only has pressure from their coach and the fans of that particular sport but also a global audience and the pressures coming from stress related to representing their country. From the medical planning and organization perspective, the Olympic Games is a multisport, international, and mass sporting event. For the host country, the organization must provide optimal communication, transportation, and facilities to care for thousands of elite-level athletes. For national organizations, preparations can begin years in advance of the games and include planning how dependent they wish to be on the host country’s medical plan; which facilities may be used in case of emergencies; what equipment, staff, and medications will be necessary to retain independent care of their own athletes; and arranging local licensure, contacts, and training facilities for its athletes throughout the course of competition.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    David J. Pohl, Garrett Schwartzman & Mark R. Hutchinson

  2. United States Olympic Committee, Colorado Springs, CO, USA

    Mark R. Hutchinson & William Moreau

  3. Department of Sports Medicine, Olympiatoppen, Norwegian Olympic Training Center, Oslo, Norway

    Roald Bahr

  4. Canadian Olympic Team, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Robert McCormack

  5. Qatar Olympic Team, Doha, Qatar

    Juan-Manuel Alonzo

  6. Past Medical Team for Spanish Olympic and Track and Field Teams, Barcelona, Spain

    Juan-Manuel Alonzo

  7. Team Physician Brazilian Olympic Team and National Men’s Soccer Team, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Andre Pedrenelli

  8. Brazilian Olympic Medical Services, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Roberto Nahon

Authors
  1. David J. Pohl
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  2. Garrett Schwartzman
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  3. Mark R. Hutchinson
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  4. William Moreau
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  5. Roald Bahr
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  6. Robert McCormack
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  7. Juan-Manuel Alonzo
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  8. Andre Pedrenelli
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  9. Roberto Nahon
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mark R. Hutchinson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Orthopedics and Traumatology, State University of Campinas – UNICAMP, Campinas / Sao Paulo, Brazil

    Sérgio Rocha Piedade

  2. Orthopaedic Sports Medicine, University of Munich (TUM), München, Bayern, Germany

    Andreas B. Imhoff

  3. Ascot Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand

    Mark Clatworthy

  4. Department of Orthopedics & Traumatology, Federal University of São Paulo, Vila Clementino - São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Moises Cohen

  5. Espregueira-Mendes Sports Centre, Clínica do Dragão, Porto, Portugal

    João Espregueira-Mendes

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Pohl, D.J. et al. (2019). Olympic Games: Special Considerations—Medical Care for Olympians. In: Rocha Piedade, S., Imhoff, A., Clatworthy, M., Cohen, M., Espregueira-Mendes, J. (eds) The Sports Medicine Physician. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10433-7_45

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10433-7_45

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-10432-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-10433-7

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