| An example would be one of my athletes here, who tore an ulnar collateral ligament in the elbow. We diagnosed that with the ultrasound and sent him out for surgery. He comes back post-surgery and we do the rehab. I’m doing weekly monitoring of that elbow with the ultrasound, stressing the joint, doing a bilateral comparison. I get to the point where I can say, ‘This is strong enough and I’m going to let you go back and start going through these overhead motions of your sport.” I told him, “You can go out and snatch 60 kilos now.” So we get all done, we’re talking, and two minutes later he says, “Okay, so now I can snatch 90 kilos.” And I said, “No, I told you 60.” And he says, “80?” So it’s that type of thing; they have a goal, they want to go.
If a chiropractor or chiropractic student reads this and thinks to himself or herself, “I’d love to work with Olympic athletes some day,” where would you tell that person to start? What are the necessary steps?
The first thing they need to do is to get their CCSP [Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician]. Then, if they want to go on to this level, they probably need to become a team doctor and to get their Diplomate in Sports Medicine. And then, if they really want to be involved in the Olympics, they need to find national governing bodies [there are separate ones for each sport] and to become involved with those national governing bodies.
Were you involved in athletics yourself, from an early age?
Yes.
Which sports? What in your background first stimulated your enthusiasm and led you onto this path?
There are several things. I started playing tennis when I was about seven years old. My father was a tennis player and a chiropractor. He’s one of the chiropractors who created the ACA Sports Council and the CCSP program. His name is Robert Reed. My father got me involved in tennis, having been a tennis player himself. I played tennis and I played football. I continue to play tennis to this day. I’ve also been involved in the martial arts since I was around ten years old. Active lifestyle.
It’s my understanding that chiropractors have been official members of the U.S. sports medicine team for the Olympics since 1980. I know that may be a bit before your time of involvement, but what do you know about the process through which that door opened?
I know quite a bit because in 1980 my father was the person invited to be the first chiropractor to go. Because he had five kids and a busy practice, he turned it down and recommended George Goodheart, who did go. Then, in 1984, Eileen Haworth went, and I’m not sure about the selection process that was followed. Then the USOC opened up the door so that chiropractors could come in and start doing rotations at the Olympic Training Center.
Which is where?
In Colorado Springs. We have three training centers. Lake Placid [New York] and Chula Vista [California] are the other two. Then we have an Olympic Education Center in Marquette, Michigan, at Northern Michigan University. At this point in time, most of the chiropractors rotate through Colorado Springs.
Is there now an official process under which chiropractors train, develop their credentials, and are evaluated for their qualifications to serve? What’s the process through which you arrived at a decision to choose these four chiropractors to go to Beijing?
In the past, there has been one chiropractor chosen for the Games. Then, in 2004, there were two. This year, it was supposed to have been two, as well. But some new things occurred. One was that I came in. It would have been kind of hard not to take me. The second is that Dr. Farrell was extremely involved with beach volleyball and they demanded that he be their provider. Historically, it had always been an athletic trainer.
|
