With only a couple of weeks left until the 2024 Olympic Games, several Central Florida medical experts are prepping themselves to assist Team USA athletes in any way they can to bring home gold.
As Team USA’s athletes preparing to go for gold, a wealth of medical experts - including several from Florida - are preparing to help the team however they can.
This year, there are over 850 athletes representing Team USA, and 58 health care workers accompanying them. The team’s expertise is made up of sports medicine doctors, mental health experts, physical therapists and athletic trainers.
“It is probably the ultimate professional honor of my career, to be part of this in some small way to try to assist our athletes and everyone involved to make Team USA a success,” said Dr. Jason Zaremski, the chief of the Sports Medicine Division in the Department of Physical Medicine Rehabilitation at the University of Florida.
Zaremski is one of three Central Florida health care experts listed on the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s website representing Team USA medical staff. The other two are a sports medicine doctor and an athletic trainer, both from Orlando.
Most common Olympic injuries
Of the 11,000 athletes who competed in the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics, 1,035 were injured and another 438 reported being sick, according to a study by the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
The sport with the most injuries was boxing, which accounted for 27% of during the games. Behind that were BMX freestyle, skateboarding, karate and handball. The games that received the fewest injuries were diving, road cycling, rowing, marathon swimming and shooting.
As for illnesses, COVID-19 made up 4% of all reported illnesses. The largest reported illness at 18% was exertional heat-related sickness. In Tokyo, athletes and others dealt with highs in the low 90s and humidity over 70 percent.
There has been a concern heat could be a problem in Paris, but organizers have been preparing after intense heat waves across Europe in 2023.
France wasn’t spared, with August providing the nation's hottest day in 76 years on record for the month. Average July and August temperatures observed increases of 4.32 to 4.86 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the British Association for Sustainable Sport (BASIS), a nonprofit research group.
While southern Europe has topped 100 degrees this past week, Paris, in northern France, has been spared, with afternoons in the 70s. Highs early in the Games, which begin next week, are forecast to be in the mid-70s to low 80s, but forecasts call for higher temperatures toward the end of July.
How the doctors can help
The Team USA med team will be setting up its own clinic and will be working in 12-hour shifts, although everyone is expected to be on call 24/7, Zaremski said.
He and the medical team have been familiarizing themselves with historical medical data and preparing for common issues that have affected athletes in previous Games, including respiratory, sleep and gastrointestinal tract issues as well as common bone breaks.
“There's usually more lower-extremity injuries than upper-extremity, so like feet, ankles, knees as opposed to elbows and shoulders. But again, you have to be prepared for anything; someone falls, trip, sticks out their arm, they can hurt their elbow.”
On top of that, doctors will also need to be familiar with hospitals near each event, how to get in touch with first responders and translators, as well as which drugs athletes can take. Medicines my be approved by the U.S. and World Anti-Doping agencies.
“So before you get into the medicine, go to that website and double-check if is it approved or not approved,” Zaremski said.
The idea of traveling to Paris for the Games hasn’t quite hit him yet, but he suspects once he’s on the plane, his excitement will kick in. For now, he’s focused on the job.
“We're all working together to help the athlete achieve their goal, which in this case is get a medal and ultimately, hopefully, a gold medal,” said Zaremski, who flew out to join the team Wednesday.
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