SportMedBC practitioner sports physiotherapist Timberly George recently participated in a Sun Run 2010 Ask An Expert online chat: Check out all the questions about injury prevention and care and Timberly’s expert answers right here.
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From the Vancouver Sun:
The single most important tip coach Lynn Kanuka can offer new Sun Runners is to take it easy.
“Everybody for the most part does too much, too fast, too soon,” Kanuka, SportMedBC’s RunWalk coach said.
“If you’ve been a runner in the past and haven’t done anything in months, please don’t jump into the RunFaster10K program. We don’t like to think that our bodies can’t take what they took when we were in our youth, but we don’t stay with things when they are a big struggle. We need to think of walking and running as a lifestyle activity that is like a springboard of fitness to other activities, so let’s enjoy this.”
Read the full article here.
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NBC Universal Sports, the US Olympic & Paralympic Games broadcaster has an online feature on the Female Paralympians to watch during the Vancouver Games including Canadian Sonja Gaudet:
Sonja Gaudet (Canada, wheelchair curling) – The host nation is the favorite to win the gold in the Wheelchair Curling competition at the Vancouver Games. Canada won the inaugural Paralympic curling competition in 2006 and followed it up with a gold at the 2009 World Championships. They were also named Canadian Team of the Year for 2009 at the Canadian Sports Awards. Gaudet is the only returning member of the 2006 squad. She will be joined by Jim Armstrong, the skipper, Darryl Neighbour and Ina Forrest. Their quest to repeat begins March 13 against Great Britain.
Read the full article here.
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NBC Universal Sports, the US Olympic & Paralympic Games broadcaster, has an online feature on the Male Paralympians to watch in Vancouver, including a Canadian Brian McKeever:
Brian McKeever (Canada, cross-country skiing) – Mckeever is set to march in the Paralympic Opening Ceremonies one month after marching in the Olympic Ceremony. The visually impaired skier — Mckeever has Stargaard’s Disease — competes on both the IPC World Cup and the FIS World Cup tours, and was named to the Canadian Olympic team for the 50km relay as an alternate.
At the 2009 IPC World Championships, Mckeever won the 20km and 10km races, while finishing second in the 12.5km biathlon and 1.2km cross-country sprint. This will be his third Paralympic Games. Mckeever won two golds in cross-country and a silver in biathlon in Salt Lake City and two golds and a silver in cross-country and a bronze in the biathlon long course in Torino.
Read the full article here.
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XProTeX equipment company has pioneered a new safer batting glove that promises to dramatically reduce injuries to baseball players according to an Associated Press article appearing in today’s Globe & Mail:
“Essentially it will reduce the impact by over 60 percent, so a 100 mph fastball will be reduced to that of a 39 mph fastball, which is the difference between in a cast and being a little bit sore,” he said. “It’s really an area where players are very vulnerable. Their hands are their most important tool in baseball. If your hands are injured, you can’t hold the ball, catch a ball, hold a bat, hit a ball.”
Read the full story here.
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We take you behind the scenes this month with our timely Vancouver Games Blog, an insider perspective on sport medicine and science headlines, talking points, statistical data and emerging trends.
Technology is helping Canada’s Paralympians to compete at phenomenal levels – some rivaling their Olympian counterparts as Randy Shore explains in an article in today’s Vancouver Sun:
Canadian para-alpine skiers are using a modified competition moto-cross shock with a dual damper system that rivals if not surpasses the best technology in the world.
“These guys fly,” Tardif [Gaetan Tardif, assistant chef de mission for the Canadian Paralympic team] said. “The Paralympics uses the women’s Olympic downhill course and we know how fast our Olympic women go. Well, some of these guys go faster.”
On the same course, Chris Williamson goes more than 130 km/h. The top male Olympians reach speeds of over 140 km/h. Williamson has 10-per-cent vision, all of it peripheral. Using a guide and radio instructions about what lies ahead, he’s one of the fastest skiers in the world.
Canada’s Top Secret program — a national program to improve the technology used by Canada’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes — has made a “phenomenal” difference in performance, said Canadian Paralympic Committee high performance director Rob Needham.
Read the full article here.
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We take you behind the scenes this month with our timely Vancouver Games Blog, an insider perspective on sport medicine and science headlines, talking points, statistical data and emerging trends.
Physiotherapist Chris Napier worked with Canada’s gold medal winning Ski-Cross Team at Cypress during the Olympics. Here is a profile of Julia Murray that aired on Global TV. It documents her bid to compete in the games just 3 weeks after having ACL surgery – and features her physio Chis prominently.
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We take you behind the scenes this month with our timely Vancouver Games Blog, an insider perspective on sport medicine and science headlines, talking points, statistical data and emerging trends.
Downtown East Side kids will be the recipients of Team GB’s sports equipment from Whistler and Vancouver via local charity More Sports :
Items being donated include televisions, fridges, office and lounge furniture, printers and scanners. Some of these items will be used directly by the charity, while others will be sold and turned into funding for their excellent programmes.
MoreSports is a collaborative initiative that provides sport and physical activity opportunities for children and families living in Vancouver. They aim to reduce the entry barriers to sport and physical activity for members of Vancouver’s poorest communities. Football, basketball, floor hockey and badminton are just some of the great sports programmes that they currently run.
Andy Hunt, Team GB Chef de Mission and BOA Chief Executive said:
“MoreSports runs a great programme, providing children from a deprived area of Vancouver with the opportunity to play sport, which is a core fundamental principle of Olympism. As an organisation responsible for the development of the Olympic Movement, it is particularly rewarding to be able to support a project such as MoreSports, which aims to spread the Olympic spirit through sport, developing mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play. It’s great to give something back to the people of Vancouver after staging such a superb Games.
“The opportunity for Team GB athletes and many of the youngsters involved in the MoreSports programme to meet each other before we departed Vancouver was a great moment. Hopefully many of those young people will be inspired by the sight of Amy Williams’ gold medal for a long time to come.”
Read more here.
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We take you behind the scenes this month with our timely Vancouver Games Blog, an insider perspective on sport medicine and science headlines, talking points, statistical data and emerging trends.
With the “lull” between Games, members of the International Olympic Committee are packing up and leaving town and members of the International Paralympic Committee are arriving and preparing for their Games to begin.
Before leaving Vancouver, the head of the IOC medical commission, Dr. Patrick Schamasch declared that the Host medical team assembled by Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jack Taunton was “the best ever”.
From the venues in Whistler, Richmond and Vancouver to the athlete’s village, the International Broadcast Centre, Doping Control stations and Live City sites in downtown Vancouver many of the talented members of the SportMed Network were on-site and fully engaged in helping Vancouver host the world’s best athletes, media, support staff and spectators during the just successfully concluded 2010 Olympic Winter Games – and many will continue their roles with the start of the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games on Sunday.
Physiotherapist Paige Larson, was the Venue Medical Supervisor for Figure Skating at the Pacific Coliseum and the Trout Lake practice site while Dr. Jim Bovard, a North Vancouver-based sport physician was the Skating’s Venue Medical Officer. Interestingly, they worked alongside Dr. Jane Moran, a Victoria-based physician who has been the International Skating Union’s Medical Delegate for the past decade.
Physiotherapist Denise Moresby served as the Deputy Venue Medical Supervisor for Figure Skating. As the second in command for physiotherapy, she was responsible for rink-side and medical centre care for all figure skating athletes, coaches, media and even spectators at both the practice rink and competition rink. This was her fourth major Figure Skating event as host medical support.
Dr. Jeff Pervis was the Venue Medical Officer for Freestyle Skiing at Cypress. Jeff has worked at World Cups with the Canadian team for 20 years, and joined the team in Torino in ’06 as part of the Canadian Olympic Committee’s medical contingent. While Physiotherapist Wendy Epp joined Jeff as the Venue Medical Supervisor at the Cypress venue, Exercise Physiologist Kate Milne worked in Doping Control at the women’s freestyle events at Cypress.
Over at the Vancouver Olympic Centre where Curling took place, Venue Medical Officer Dr. Navin Prasad was joined by Allan McGavin colleague physiotherapist Trish Hopkins who served as Venue Medical Supervisor.
Acupuncturists were included as members of the host medical team and Sonia Tan was pleased to be selected to work in the Polyclinic. As a retired national elite group rhythmic gymnast she has had the honor and privilege of representing Canada and understands first hand the hard work and the pressures of international competition.
Dr. Rob Lloyd-Smith and physiotherapist Ron Mattison both from the Allan McGavin Sports Medicine Centre at UBC, served as Venue Medical Supervisors at Canada Hockey Place where physiotherapist Teri-Lynn Fraser was Venue Medical Supervisor.
Victoria-based physiotherapist Sue Lott also worked with ice hockey and was stationed out at the UBC Thunderbird Area. During the Paralympics Sue will be serving as a physiotherapist at the polyclinic in the athlete’s village. At UBC, Sue worked alongside physiotherapist Nadine Plotnikoff, who was the Venue Medical Officer.
Physiotherapist Timberly George served as the Venue Medical Supervisor for the Richmond Olympic Oval and Dr. Jeff Coleman was the Venue Medical Officer. Timberly reported that the Oval essentially had “a mini-hospital to serve both athletes and any spectators who required immediate care.” Serving the athletes, Timberly worked alongside Dr. Coleman and collectively they were in charge of 5 sport med docs, 5 sport physios (certificate and diploma holders), 3 athletic therapists, and a paramedic team. “During competition times there were two teams of 3 (1 doc, 2 therapists) at either end of the field of play to act as first responders. In spectator medical we had a nurse and 3 roving first responders and another paramedic team ready to respond at all times.”
Emergency physician Dr. Sam Gutman was charged with looking after the media at both the International Broadcast Centre and the Main Press Centre along with the LiveCity Downtown and Yaletown venues in Vancouver. That meant 24/7 coverage as of January 29thwith a team of 17 MDs about 20 First Responders and 50 or so RNs, 2 teams of BCAS paramedics. The 2 media clinics with 4 beds each saw about 35-40 patients per day for general medical problems. At the constantly thriving Vancouver LiveCity sites Sam oversaw another team of First Responders, MD’s and RNs through his company “Rockdoc” – and were well set-up to serving fans who attended those concert venues and needed medical attention.
Optometrist Kevin Loopeker worked at the Whistler Polyclinic providing optometry services, which was one of the most widely accessed services during the Games.
Over at the Whistler Sliding Centre, Victoria-based Dr. Cara Ewert served as the Venue Medical Officer and covered the Luge events. Cara and her team definitely had their hands full at this venue and all are to be highly commended for their response to the crashes and trauma that is associated with this fast and often dangerous sport.
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We take you behind the scenes this month with our timely Vancouver Games Blog, an insider perspective on sport medicine and science headlines, talking points, statistical data and emerging trends.
While the host country is responsible for providing comprehensive medical services within the Athlete Village and at all the venues, both practice and competition, many National Olympic Committees bring their own team of physicians, therapists and other health care practitioners. The Canadian medical team was in a unique position for these games being dedicated to the Canadian team while working in their own country alongside members of the Host Medical Service team, many of whom they knew well as colleagues in the local sport medicine community.
Dr. Bob McCormack served as Chief Medical Officer Canadian Olympic Team and it was his goal to optimize everything possible for the athletes, so they could have the best performance as they proudly represented Canada. After coaches, the athletes rank their health care providers as the most important part of their support team. The team medical practitioners play a vital role in keeping the athletes on top of their game.
Dr. McCormack commented prior to the start of the Games – “personally, this was my fifth Olympics and my third as the CMO. In addition to the organizational role I am also the coordinating physician for the National Curling program and am the medical lead for the Long Track Speed Skating team”. When he was not in meetings, or dealing with minor crises in the clinic, he could be found at those competitions.
Physiotherapist Marc Rizzardo, a SportMedBC Board Member, was appointed two years ago as the Chief Therapist for the Canadian Medical team. He will also be in the same position for the London Summer Games in 2012. Marc’s responsibility was to oversee the team of therapists selected for the Games and to ensure that they had everything they needed to treat athletes both in their clinic, which was located on the main floor of the Canadian residence in the Vancouver Athlete Village and out at the venues. The Canadian medical clinic was well equipped and even had a hot and cold pool situated outside on their patio as seen in the picture below.
Having access to the Host Medical Service’s Polyclinic and the full array of services available there (from dentistry to optometry, imaging to ENT) made both Marc and Bob’s jobs a little easier than had the games been in unfamiliar territory. As Bob indicated, however, they still put in the same number of hours looking after the Canadian team.
“The Games are always an intense period for all the Health and Science team. Eighteen to twenty hour days were often the norm and it was critical to be able to still able to deliver at the end of working four weeks straight. To survive one not only has to be motivated, but needs to develop strategies to “survive”. Having said that, it is always a great opportunity and I know everyone on the Canadian Olympic HST would say there is no other place they would rather be than supporting our athletes.”
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