USEMS - RIO 2016
to ensure Vitamin D levels are good throughout the year – particularly important when our athletes spend so much of the year indoors. This year, for the first time, we’ve use IMPACT to provide baseline neurocognitive screening. Concussions are not uncommon in Gymnastics, and improving concussion care is high on my agenda for the following Olympic cycle. Anti-Doping education is an important aspect of my role within our sport. Our squads have antidoping education twice yearly, and this year we have worked closely with UK Anti-Doping to deliver their ‘Clean Sport’ and, prior to the Games, ‘Clean Games’ educational programmes. I have been really impressed by how involved the gymnasts have become during these sessions. Managing injury becomes much more complicated around competition time, and in Olympic year, these pressures are significantly magnified. From the beginning of March onwards, each competition is either officially or unofficially a trial for the Olympic team, and ensuring athletes have enough time to recover from injuries becomes ever more challenging. The psychological aspects of injury are also increased, and working closely as a multi-disciplinary unit becomes even more important, both as an SSMT and with the coaches. Requests for scans and ‘specialist opinions’ have also increased this year and must be managed with sensible discussions between athlete, medical and coaching staff. It is a constant learning curve for us all, and already this year the results of scans have overcomplicated what should have been really rather simple medical management.
In cases such as this, I have found getting the opinions of a number of colleagues to be useful in terms of quantifying risk. This enables fruitful discussions with the athlete, parents, personal coach, National Coach and Sports Medicine Team in planning the way forward. UK Sport has set tough Medal Targets for each Sport, and gymnastics is no different. Keeping our athletes fit and healthy so that they can train maximally and compete injury free is the aim of our team. We do, however, have to acknowledge that injuries and illness occur, and contingency planning has occupied much of our thoughts – what if our main medal hopes get injured? How do we ensure they receive speedy access to the best medical care when they train on the other side of the country to our base in Lilleshall? Each potential Olympic Team member has a contingency plan in place so that all eventualities are covered. I’m hopeful that the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio will be a professional highlight for myself, traveling with Team GB, but more importantly that they are a successful one for the Sport, and the athletes who have worked so hard over the last four years (and beyond).
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Chief Medical Officer for British Gymnastics, Dr Chris Tomlinson, wrote this article back in March 2016 as he and his team prepared for the Olympic Games. Since writing, Team GB gymnasts finished the Rio Olympic Games with seven medals across all three gymnastics disciplines, making it their most successful Olympic performance in history. There can be no doubt that the hard work, diligence and organisation of Chris and his team contributed to the success of the athletes.
Discussions regarding risk once an athlete is injured are always important, but particularly so this year. A lumbar pars stress fracture in February is going to struggle to heal before the Games, never mind the trials beginning in March.
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