Tommy Eriksson’s scientific contributions

While athletes play the central role at the Olympic Games, they must be appropriately supported by their coaches and medical team. An elite athlete at the Olympic level expects and appreciates being supported and treated by a sports therapist with high level of skill and knowledge about both rehabilitation and the athlete's specific sport. Prior to the Olympic Games, it is important to build a medical team consisting primarily of physicians and sports therapists. The chief sports therapist should contact the chief medical officer (CMO), or preferably the chief sports therapist, of the organizing committee to get information about how the medical facilities will be organized and what equipment they will have in the village. Each member of the medical team needs to be current about the latest treatment methods especially for sports-specific problems and injuries. Injury prevention is something the sports therapist works for continuously.