In addition to Robbie, British athletics has a strong representation with a further 14 athletes competing, including the men's 4 x 100m relay team & Olympic 400m silver medallist, Chrissy (Ohuruogu). From a sports physiotherapy perspective, a ratio of 15 athletes to one of me ensures I will have my hands full once again, so it really means I have to be on top of my organisation, time management & prioritisation. At this time of year, I tend to find that the clinical management required by the athletes exceeds the normal post-travel/pre-race maintenance intervention & involves much more differential diagnosis followed by acute/acute-on-chronic/chronic injury management, as meets come thick & fast, with training & physio sessions suffering as a result.
This is another example of where being a sports physiotherapist in track & field is much more demanding than in other sports, particularly team sports, where you are constantly in contact with your players. In respect of injury management in team sports & the implications on performance, I read an interesting article today, written by former Liverpool sports physician, Pete Brukner & posted on his blog a week or so ago.
The article updates some of the research that I conducted during my time working as a physiotherapist for the Football Association & compares the number of days missed by English Premier League football players through injury, to the points acquired throughout the course of the season by the respective teams. Whilst there are many confounding variables involved in this type of data analysis, it may come as no surprise that Manchester City lost the least number of days through injury in comparison to their Premier League counterparts. Peter's article looks at some of the factors that may contribute to the discrepancies.
Read the article by clicking the link below, which will take you to Peter's blog at www.PeterBrukner.com
In the meantime, I have now finished my lunch & have to go pack my bags in readiness for departure. If you are interested in finding out the results of tonight's Diamond League meet, click on the link below.
