OLYMPIC REVIEW LESSONS LEARNT FROM THE

AT ATHENS 2004 By Michael Callaghan, MCSP

When IOC President Jacques Rogge said at the closing ceremony of the 28th Olympiad “Dear Greek friends, you have won!” it was the official seal of approval of a successful Olympics. Contributing in a small way to the host nation’s successful organisation was a group of 15 British physiotherapists who had a unique oppor- tunity to work on behalf of the organising committee at the Games.

The provision of medical facilities and personnel for all athletes is a core feature of any Olympics and is an important responsibility of the host nation. A major headache is the recruitment of enough qualified and skilled physiotherapists for the Polyclinic in the Olympic village as well as all the training and competition venues for a period of ten days before the opening ceremony until the day after the closing ceremony.

The Athens organising committee (ATHOC) made a concerted effort to recruit physio- therapists (and doctors) from outside

6

Greece. As far as I am aware, this was the first time that this had been counte- nanced by a country hosting the Olympics. This idea was first mentioned to me when lecturing at the Greek Physiotherapy Congress in December 2003 when I met those given the task of recruiting the 600 physiotherapists needed. Greece has about 2,000 physiotherapists and it became clear that they had been rather slow on the uptake and the problem of a lack of personnel was staring ATHOC in the face. One way to get around this was to recruit other physiotherapists who they respected and were sure could contribute with a minimum of training and fuss. They seemed very keen to have British physio- therapists’ help.

On my return to the UK, I started liaising with the BOA physiotherapy committee in case there were some physiotherapists who had been unsuccessful in their appli- cation to go with team GB and yet were still keen to volunteer and work at the Olympics. From there, applying to the medical services as a Games volunteer was undertaken by each individual online

using the Athens 2004 website.

Needless to say, there were many frustra- tions, both for the UK physiotherapists and for the ATHOC staff. For example, the online system didn’t always work and some physiotherapists were still awaiting final confirmation and registration two to three weeks before the opening ceremony. One British physiotherapist registered officially to work at the Polyclinic and somehow ended up working at the softball venue. Once these people had been accredited, there was no procedure to cor- rect the mistake to allow them to work at the village or as a physiotherapist rather than a masseur. It is my experience that these sorts of things happen at all major games and championships, but the prob- lem with the Olympics in general and 2004 in particular was that threats to security were at such a heightened state, that simple administrative mistakes were hardly ever rectified satisfactorily.

Before going out to Athens, insurance cover proved to be a major headache. Although Greece and the UK are partners

www.sportex.net