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Behind every Olympian is an ensemble of tutor , physical therapist , dietician and doc who help keep the athlete on top of their game .
In particular , physician at a major external competition face a unique set of challenges — such as cursorily responding to injuries mid - issue and patronage athletes ' recovery afterwards .
Olympic doctors are part of a team of professionals who support athletes like USA Basketball player LeBron James during the Games.
Dr. Thomas Kremenis one of the physician presently at the 2024 Paris Olympics supporting theUSA Basketballmen ’s squad . The problem call for caring for a roster of the earth ’s most famous basketball players , include Stephen Curry , LeBron James and Anthony Edwards .
Kremen is an orthopedical sawbones and sports music specialist at University of California , Los Angeles ( UCLA ) Health , as well as a former collegial free-enterprise swimmer . Before supporting USA Basketball , Kremen worked as a physician with USA Swimming for 10 years , traveling with the team to the Tokyo Games . He work with UCLA intercollegiate athletics , as well as the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team and Los Angeles Chargers football squad .
Live Science spoke with Kremen about what it is like to be a doctor at the Olympics , how physicians like himself prepare for the Games and what he is most looking forward to in Paris .
Kremen says the lessons that he and his team learn treating athletes at the Olympic Games could be used to improve how they deliver health care to their regular patients.
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EC : How is it decide which squad you ’re fit to be working with ?
TK : That ’s a complex inquiry , but I remember it ’s sort of partly availability , partly experience .
Common injuries that Olympic basketball players sustain are similar to those seen at lower levels of the sport, including muscle strains and ankle sprains, Kremen said.
From swim , obviously , I had had a longitudinal relationship with them , and leading up to the Tokyo Olympics I had several international games that I had go with the team as sort of a preparation to check that that , for all the things we organized for each of these Games , we put it into pattern about one year prior to the Games . Just to work out the rick and make certain we have all the various details optimized .
In 2019 , in preparation for the aforethought 2020 Games , we had journey to World Championships together with the precise same medical team — so gymnastic flight simulator , massage therapists , chiropractor , performance faculty , effectiveness and discipline people , as well as our squad of doc , which was myself , as well as a primary care MD .
For the COVID year , obviously , there was a lot of tweaking because a lot of restriction came in , and the Games were set back for a year . But very exchangeable to that , for the USA Basketball games last summer , we participated in the FIBA World Cup in Manila with the same aesculapian infrastructure , just to kind of be prepare for these Games this year .
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EC : How do you prepare player for their games ?
TK : There ’s a brace component there — there ’s sure , " How does the aesculapian squad cook for these big international competitions that are obviously high-pitched profile ? " And then , " How do the participant ready ? "
As a medico , I ’m less involved in their twenty-four hour period - to - solar day readiness and more [ knotty ] in take a crap sure that we strategize how we would deal with anything that could total up .
So , the players are used to deal out with keeping themselves in cast and ready for rival . And there ’s a whole team of players … a whole tidy sum of thing that go into verify that they ’re actually ready to perform at the highest , eminent , elite level . And everyone want to be big , unspoiled , quicker , stronger . And these jock are used to doing that day in and day out . So for them , it ’s almost like continuing on their — I do n’t want to say Clarence Shepard Day Jr. - to - day — but their high , high grade , day - to - day elect public presentation .
From the medical standpoint , we ’re just always attempt to check that that we have whatever medical resourcefulness we could call for readily available , so that we can take care of any likely common medical problems , or those rare but more concerning aesculapian problems . We can take forethought of them efficiently so that the athletes have the opportunity to do and do what they call for to do .
EC : What are the most common sort of injuries that you see in these jock , and how do you treat them ?
TK : Yeah , it ’s not all that cryptic , to be dependable . I signify , you ’ve seen hoops players .
Common injury are like muscle pains and articulatio talocruralis sprains , and that kind of affair are the Brobdingnagian majority of the injuries . And so these instrumentalist have plain been playing this sport since they were children , and they ’ve all had these injuries over sentence . And so those are not particularly newfangled , but you still have to deal with them and their volatility to some extent .
So the common things are still common , even at the Olympic level or the school collegial degree .
Although some people may not moot hoops a contact sportsman , it is still a physical contact sport because the players are chute and land . So a lot of bruises from impinge on your elbow on the homage when you go up for a lay-up and ca n’t land absolutely . And there ’s bruises from hitting the floor , jumping and landing place injuries and thing like tendonitis , or something gets flare up — ankle sprains , muscle sprains , that kind of matter .
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EC : What would you say is the most rewarding part of your task ?
TK : It ’s always great to be able to empower athlete to demonstrate their amazing , amazing skill . And one of the reason why these jock are so far-famed is because their performance level is unbelievable and very , very impressive .
So as a former athlete — albeit at a much , much less level than these particular athletes — but after being an athlete , you always need to be capable to get people participate in and put all their voiceless body of work to use or to showcase that . And so with these guys , it ’s big to be able to check that that they can perform at the undecomposed of their power . And then when you lend in the [ Summer ] Olympic Games , which materialise once every four long time , and representing our land on top of just the sports in cosmopolitan , it ’s even that much more special .
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EC : What are you most looking forward to about working at the Olympic Games ?
TK : go out all these different people from extremely different ground . In some cases , you bed , some body politic are very imagination - deep and have a luck of different opportunities at their administration ; other commonwealth may not . But when you get onto the basketball court , none of that weigh , you know , and it ’s kind of an amazing equaliser .
The other thing I think is awing is — - you know , I ’m at a major university where we ’re always attempt to better how we deliver healthcare to everyone , not just elect professional basketball jock , but really everybody . And so using these thing we learn to make the athletes bigger , better , quicker , unassailable , like everyone ’s trying to get to in this elect degree — taking those lessons and using that to be innovative at the treatment of our sidereal day - to - day affected role at UCLA is something that I call back is what you always sample to have in the back of your mind .
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