Dr. Manning and Lessons from the Beijing Olympics

I’m writing to you from the Olympic Village, Beijing, where I am the Team Physician for the Men’s Olympic Hockey Team. It is an honour and a privilege, and something of a surreal experience. But nonetheless with lessons that can be applied to each of our #RiseAbove health journeys towards healthy movement and wellness…  

For most athletes, competing in an Olympic Games represents the pinnacle of their sporting careers. It is the culmination of years of training, competitions and sacrifice.  Working the 2018 Olympics as Team Doctor with our Men’s National Hockey team was my first glimpse at the incredible atmosphere and spirit of competition that exists at the games.  Compared to IIHF World Championships or NHL season and playoffs, Olympic Hockey is different in that the hockey team is just one part of a bigger Team Canada, made of athletes from every winter sport across our country.   

Within an Olympic Games, the practice of sports medicine is simplified in a sense because every member of the team has one goal in mind: win the gold medal.  Every aspect of an athlete’s physical and mental health is therefore optimized and every treatment decision made with the ultimate goal in mind.  

At Group23, we strive to practice Sports Medicine differently – and your personal goal is what drives our treatment plan.  To develop our unique concept of care, we drew on the wealth of experience within our physician and physiotherapy group which is comprised of practitioners that have worked at the highest levels of sport such as the NHL, CFL, USports, Alpine Canada, World Championships, and Olympics Games.  This concept of care stresses the critical importance of having G23 patients set a goal (what we call a #RiseAbove Goal) in the same way that an athlete sets a goal of winning an Olympic gold medal.  

#RiseAbove goals are SMART goals, that is they are Specific (win a gold medal in Men’s Ice Hockey), Measurable (we win or we don’t), Actionable (team is capable to performing at elite level), Realistic (yes, we qualified for the Olympics and have a team with the talent to win a gold medal), Time-bound (Gold medal game is February 20, 2022).   

Now most of us presenting with an injury or chronic musculoskeletal complaint aren’t trying to win Olympic medals, but I would argue that ANY goal set by a G23 patient should be treated as though it’s means everything to them, that in a sense, it is their equivalent of a “gold medal.”  It might be something as simple as, “I want to be able to go for 20-minute walk 3 days a week by July 1, 2022.” But going from where they are currently, to achieving that goal can be as challenging as winning a medal.   

So how does a SMART #RiseAbove Goal help a Group23 patient?   

1. It sets an objective benchmark for what “success” looks like when it comes to evaluating the results of any treatment plan. 

1. It ensures that every decision made by your treating sports medicine physician or physiotherapist reflects YOUR priorities not theirs.  

Group23’s concept of care is hard at work here in Beijing and the #RiseAbove Goal for this Olympics is to return to Calgary with a Gold Medal!  Start your #RiseAbove Journey at Group23 today.  Go Canada Go!