Medical resource use by Team USA at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games: an observational study.
4 affiliations
- 1Sports Medicine, United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA.
- 2Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Utah Health, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
- 3Sports Medicine, US Coalition for the Prevention of Illness and Injury in Sport, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA.
- 4Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Utah Health, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
Abstract
Objectives
To quantify medical resource utilisation among Team USA during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, by illness and injury status.Methods
This was an epidemiological study of athletes who sought care in the medical clinics in the Athlete Village (n=206). Athletes were categorised as those who incurred injury (INJ; n=77), who incurred physical or mental illness (ILL; n=53) and who had no health concerns (NHC; n=76). The NHC group sought maintenance, recovery and mental performance services. Clinic encounters, encounter time, medical providers and service types accessed (therapy, procedures, pharmacological treatment, diagnostics, advanced imaging) were collected during 26 January-25 February 2026.Results
1702 clinical encounters were documented. INJ, ILL and had greater clinic visit numbers per athlete (9.6±7.7, 8.5±8.6 and 7.4±7.2 visits, respectively; p=0.049), with maintenance/massage accounting for most encounters. INJ demonstrated the greatest healthcare needs, with longer clinic time per athlete (5.1±4.2 hours vs 4.3±4.3 hours and 3.8±3.4 hours, respectively; p=0.029), accession of more medical staff provider types, particularly physicians and chiropractors (3.1 provider types vs 2.3 and 1.8 provider types; p<0.001), more procedures and more hospital visits. ILL had the highest use of diagnostic testing and pharmacological interventions (p<0.001). Therapy-based services were used by 87%-100% of all groups. Massage was included in 62%, 66% and 67% of maintenance visits for INJ, ILL and NHC, respectively. Similar proportions of all three groups sought care from athletic trainers (42.0%-58.4%), physical therapists (28.9%-34%), massage therapists (55.3%-66.0%) and psychological service providers (9.2%-24.0%).Conclusion
Medical resource use in this game predominantly involved delivering care to athletes for non-injury/illness reasons. Therefore, it is important to bring healthcare staff with specialised skills in complementary medicine, recovery, mental well-being and performance domains to address needs along the healthcare spectrum.
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BibTeX
@article{vincent2026medical,
title = {{Medical resource use by Team USA at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games: an observational study.}},
author = {Heather K Vincent and Jacob F Oeding and Eric G Post and Ashley N Triplett and Amber Donaldson and Jessica Bartley and Jonathan T Finnoff},
journal = {BMJ open sport \& exercise medicine},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1136/bmjsem-2026-003466},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42968935},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Medical resource use by Team USA at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games: an observational study.
AU - Heather K Vincent
AU - Jacob F Oeding
AU - Eric G Post
AU - Ashley N Triplett
AU - Amber Donaldson
AU - Jessica Bartley
AU - Jonathan T Finnoff
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/31
JO - BMJ open sport & exercise medicine
DO - 10.1136/bmjsem-2026-003466
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42968935
AB - Objectives To quantify medical resource utilisation among Team USA during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, by illness and injury status.Methods This was an epidemiological study of athletes who sought care in the medical clinics in the Athlete Village (n=206). Athletes were categorised as those who incurred injury (INJ; n=77), who incurred physical or mental illness (ILL; n=53) and who had no health concerns (NHC; n=76). The NHC group sought maintenance, recovery and mental performance services. Clinic encounters, encounter time, medical providers and service types accessed (therapy, procedures, pharmacological treatment, diagnostics, advanced imaging) were collected during 26 January-25 February 2026.Results 1702 clinical encounters were documented. INJ, ILL and had greater clinic visit numbers per athlete (9.6±7.7, 8.5±8.6 and 7.4±7.2 visits, respectively; p=0.049), with maintenance/massage accounting for most encounters. INJ demonstrated the greatest healthcare needs, with longer clinic time per athlete (5.1±4.2 hours vs 4.3±4.3 hours and 3.8±3.4 hours, respectively; p=0.029), accession of more medical staff provider types, particularly physicians and chiropractors (3.1 provider types vs 2.3 and 1.8 provider types; p<0.001), more procedures and more hospital visits. ILL had the highest use of diagnostic testing and pharmacological interventions (p<0.001). Therapy-based services were used by 87%-100% of all groups. Massage was included in 62%, 66% and 67% of maintenance visits for INJ, ILL and NHC, respectively. Similar proportions of all three groups sought care from athletic trainers (42.0%-58.4%), physical therapists (28.9%-34%), massage therapists (55.3%-66.0%) and psychological service providers (9.2%-24.0%).Conclusion Medical resource use in this game predominantly involved delivering care to athletes for non-injury/illness reasons. Therefore, it is important to bring healthcare staff with specialised skills in complementary medicine, recovery, mental well-being and performance domains to address needs along the healthcare spectrum.
SN - 2055-7647
ER -