Olympic Massage

It is Saturday afternoon, 23 August 2008 in Beijing China.  Tonight is the last night of competition in National Stadium, home to the Olympic flame, which has burned brightly at these Games.  Tomorrow morning is the start of the Olympic Men’s Marathon, then Closing Ceremonies that evening.  Today is one of the only free afternoons the sports medicine staff has had in two weeks of competition.  Several of us made the obligatory trip to the Great Wall of China and it is even more spectacular than the history books!   I might add that hiking up the Great Wall was challenging at times with steps 20 inches high placed at an 80 degree angle!   All I can tell you is that the Ancient Chinese military that manned this Great Wall that covers some 6,000 Kilometers were very, very, fit!  The ride down from the Wall was even more exciting.  The Chinese authorities have set up a dry land, metal bobsled run.  You can ride down from the top of the mountain on a single person luge, like that used in the Winter Olympic Games.  The speeds can be hair raising and the turns were best taken leaning your body into it.  At various intervals there are workers with megaphones, shouting instructions to the passing luges to either brake and slow down or go faster!  It was some fun.

USA track and field has had it’s challenges these past several days.  With the men’s 4 x 100 relay dropping the baton and the women’s team doing exactly the same 28 minutes later  was disappointing to say the least.  I don’t believe this has ever happened in USA track and field Olympic history.  Watching Jamaica last night in a packed Olympic stadium set a new World Record in the men’s 4 x 100 meter relay was spectacular!  This moment was only surpassed by Usain Bolt setting a new Olympic and World record in the men’s 200 meters!  For me this was very cool since in 1996 at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, I was present track side at the finish line when the USA’s Michael Johnson set the Olympic 200 meter record which stood until these Games in China.  So now I have been present at the stadium for both of the fastest 200 meters ever run in competition!

One of the things that I have noticed these past two weeks in Beijing is the precision and pride of the Chinese volunteers and workers. Beneath the stadium is a vast underground network that makes the stadium tick.  The workers, regardless of their jobs, all march in military formation together when they are enroute to their stations or are departing their stations.  I have seen hospitality workers in military marching formations, security guards, ticket takers, stadium ushers, and housekeepers–yes housekeepers in single file formation leaving their shift!  My impression is that the Chinese people take great pride in their work and have been beyond hospitable to please and accomodate it’s visitors for these Olympic Games.  I have never traveled to a place where service to the customer drives the decision making like it does here in China during these Olympic Games.

As we drove back from the Great Wall, back into Beijing (an hour away), the skyline of Beijing is ultramodern and growing.  The architecture that is showing up in China is breathtaking!  Despite what I thought I knew about China, I am really seeing that China and Beijing in particular is not that much different from any big city wanting to be prosperous.  I have noticed that the fast growing upper middle class in China is very obvious.  The people want the same things we want in America.

After the Great Wall, I and a colleague went to the famous Silk Street Market.  Now this marketplace is unlike any department store shopping!  First off, China is truly the home to the best “replicas” of anything that is sold!  If you want the best “knock off” watches, jewlery, hand bags, etc.  this Silk Market in Beijing is your best bet!  What is the best part of the visit to the market is the “barganing” with the young people who staff the booths.  I noticed no older men, or women, selling at this market?  In any event, they “hawk” their goods as you walk past them.  It is acceptable and customary for the shop keeper to grab your arm as you walk pass and invite you to come in a make a purchase.  The price you are offered is never what you will ultimately pay for the item, never!  It’s merely a starting point to start the “show” of barganing and haggling.  It is fun, customary, and most importantly expected by the Chinese people.  You insult the shopkeeper if you “accept” the first price you are given!  And while all  this is going on, you are being told how handsome you are and how smart and clever you are.  I enjoyed the experience and made some good purchases.

Riding in taxi’s here is better than NASCAR and demolition derby.  The energetic relationship between cars and pedestrians is a most fascinating one for me in Beijing.  People simply walk crossing streets with ongoing traffic missing them by only inches!  Yet the flow of cars and people seems to work wonderfully.  However, every day that I get into a taxi it is one heck of an adventure and lesson watching how the ebb and flow of so many people and so many cars happens.

The USA Men’s and Women’s 4 x 400 relay is tonight.  I hope it will be a Golden night for the USA track and field team.

Being here in China has been great.  Our Chinese hosts have been professional and generous at all times.  I hope to return for more visits and exchanges in China in the future.

Benny Vaughn

Beijing China 2008

Posted on August 23rd, 2008 by Benny Vaughn
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We have just completed the first two days of Track and Field (Athletics) competition in the National Stadium (”Bird’s Nest”).  We have had the most incredible two days of weather, here in Beijing!  The night before the first day of competition we had monsoon like rains that cleared the skys to show blue skys, wispy clouds, the mountain range by day that surrounds Beijing and a Full Moon over the stadium on opening night of competion!  The days have been spectacularly clear here in Beijing.  All the concerns about air quality has simply not happened.  The hazy days that we had earlier in the weeks here were no worse than what I have seen in many American cities.  So, no athletes at track and field are wear filter masks or breathing apparatus.

The first night of competition in the Olympic stadium began with the rounds of the Men’s 100 meter dash.  It ended last night as the last event of the evening in specatular fashion.  Usain Bolt of Jamaica may be the most gifted sprinter the World has ever seen!  He put on an amazing show of sheer speed and strength and controlled the entire race from beginning to end and put on a post race show for the track and field fans in attendance that rivaled Muhammad Ali in his prime. Walter Dix, a young talent who just graduated from Florida State University in Tallahassee won the Bronze medal in his first ever Olympic Games after only finishing his last NCAA championship two months ago. Congratulations to Walter Dix.  Keep your eye on this young man.  Darvis Patton, a 30 year old former TCU sprinter advanced and raced in the Finals to finish 8th with a great time.  This 30 year old raced with the best in the World when other former World Champions in the 100 meters were eliminated in semin final rounds.  Congratulations to Darvis Patton of the USA, showing that age is not always the only factor for Olympic performances.

All of the physios, massage therapists, and athletic trainers are set up in tents that surround the warm up track that is located next to the Olympic stadium.  The athletes enter the stadium through an underground tunnel that links the two.  We are able to watch all athletes prepare for their events. It is fascinating to watch athletes from around the world prepare.  You get to see some amazing kinesiology in action! One of the interesting obsevations I’ve made as I walk along the rows of massage tables in the warm up area is that I have only counted five female practitioners at the warm up track out of approximately 100 providers at any given time.  Three of the female providers, i.e. athletic trainers, massage therapists, physios are with the USA track and field team, one is with Canada and one is with Poland who I recognized as a US Chiropractor from meets in the United States.  I never realized how few female massage therapists, athletic trainers, chiropractors, and physios are working at this Olympic level at the Games.  The USOC also has one female Chiropractor assigned to the US team at our High Performance Training Center in Beijing at Normal University.

On the first night of competition the Finals of the women’s 10,000 meters was stunning!  Shalane Flanagan of the USA won the bronze medal with a terrific effort against two of the best female 10,000 meter runners on the planet. We are all very proud of her because she overcame a lot to make this happen.  The US women in the 100 meters are gearing up today, the third day of competition as well as our hurdlers and throwers.  It is quite a moment in Olympic history what is happening in Beijing.  Despite all of this I and my colleagues are putting in 19 hour work days at the moment.

The last two days for me begin at 4:30am.  We load up our sports medicine gear, massage tables, etc. and hail a taxi at 5:15am.  Yes, that’s right we have been taking a taxi to the Olympic stadium because the first buses from the Olympic Village don’t start running until 6:45am and we are staying at Beijing Normal University at our High Performance training center.  So in any event, the adventure of hailing a taxi outside our security gate with uniformed Chinese officers is always an adventure.  First, we have to determine if the taxi driver understands where we want to go and more importantly how to get there!  Not all taxi drivers in Beijing we have discovered do not read or maybe not read well.  We have cards that we wear with our Olympic credentials that have various phrases and locations written in Chinese that we simply point and show to the drivers.  Sometimes it takes hailing down several drivers before we find one willing and able to drive us to the stadium.

Once we arrive by 6am we have to trek approximately a mile pulling roller boards with all our gear including two masage tables which have to be opened and set up at the security check point for a thorough inspection by Chinese security officials. The security here at the Games is as sophisticated as I have ever seen.  There are more cameras, scanners, sniffers, armed Chinese Swat, dogs, plain clothes and more.  This could be the safest Games ever let alone the most specatular Opening Ceremonies ever!

Finally we reach the warm up track which we access through a secure underground tunnel system and have everything set up for the first arrival of athletes from the Olympic Village at 7am for the morning sessions and 4:45pm for the evening sessions.  We end our day at the stadium around midnight.  We then pack up everything except the tables which we found we can now store in the massage room provided for all athletes beneath the stadium.  We take our med kits and back packs, ride the bus back to the Olympic Village then walk through the Village and exit to a well known taxi drop off area and hail a taxi back to Beijing Normal University where we usually arrive back at 1:30am.  This schedule will repeat itself many times before the Games end.  There will be days, like today, the third day, where I actually have the morning off (and consequently my eyes are open enough to post this blog because competition starts this evening at 7pm.  I am covering team practice from 1pm to 5pm then head over to Olympic Stadium after a quick bite to eat.  I will leave Olympic stadium tonight around midnight again.  You must love what you do and love sports to work at this pace and intensity but I and my colleagues here would never trade this opportunity and privelege to work with some of America’s great athletes representing our country.

One last great moment I had was to run into Dara Torres in the Olympic Village.  Dara is the 41 year old swimmer who this morning in Beijing just won two Silver Olympic medals.  One in the finals of the 50 Free Style where she was touched out by one hundreth of a second for the Gold Medal!  Less than 30 minutes later she swam on the IM Relay where the US women finished second with a great effort!  In any event, I worked with Dara for many years since she was 18 years old and swam her college years at the University of  Florida where I was the athletic trainer massage therapist for Florida swimming.  I worked with Dara for the Seoul Korea and Barcelona Games and have stayed in touch with her over the years.  We had a great reunion in the Olympic Village with lots of laughing and joking about age and athletic performance.  She has clearly demonstrated that age may in fact be more about state of mind in athletic performance.  Congratulations to Dara Torres for inspiring us all.

The Chinese are doing an incredible job with these Games.  I am finding Beijing to be a modern, fast paced city, that is clearly making a statement to the World with their hosting of the Games.  I can’t even imagine what the Closing Ceremony show will be like.  We will all get to see soon enough.

It’s time for me to head over to the practice track.  The US Athletic team is advancing athletes through the rounds and will continue to do exciting things.

Benny Vaughn LMT, ATC

Beijing China  2008

Posted on August 17th, 2008 by Benny Vaughn
Filed under: Uncategorized | 6 Comments »

Hello Everyone.  Right now in the United States you are probably tuning in to watch the Opening Ceremony that happened last night in Beijing.   You will be in for an incredible show!  The Beijing Organizing Committee put on an absolutely spectacular show last night!  You will not be disappointed!  

Our training camp in Dalian continues to operate two practices a day.  A large number of athletes flew to Beijing, a one hour flight, to attend Opening Ceremony.  Some are returning today while others will remain at our High Performance Training facility at Beijing Normal University (BNU).  We are slowly moving our sports medicine staff over to Beijing.  We have a full staff in place there with both USOC credentialed and USATF credentialed.  We had four new staff members arrive at our training camp two days ago, another massage therapist, a chiropractor, and two athletic trainers.  I depart for Beijing on Monday, Aug. 11.  The first day of competition for Track and Field is Aug. 14.

 The big buzz at Training Camp happened two days ago when the USA team voted that Lopez Lomong should be the Team Flag Bearer.  After the vote in the evening, we were all sworn to three hours of keeping this a secret until the USOC could announce it through the Press office.   Everyone was told no texting, email, blogging, or phone calls to anyone about the selection for three hours.  It was a very emotional and proud moment for all of us watching Lopez carry the American flag into Beijing National stadium aka the “birds nest”.  Lopez returns today to our training camp in Dalian.

 Practice for the team has been going very well.  The Athletic Therapy room is open from 7am to 11pm daily, seven days a week both here at the training camp and at our facility in Beijing.  Athletes can make 30 minute appointments each day during that time period for massage, stretching, chiropractic, hydrotherapy, and any rehab modalities or to see the team physician for any medical ailments.  For those of you who are looking for the glamour associated with this type of setting, be prepared to work 18 hour days and some.  You have to be on your feet a lot.

 I have a whole routine of personal care that makes it work for me.  The key is recovery after each day and taking care of hydration during the day.  It is very hot here!  And that would be an understatement when you factor in the heat index of 100 degrees plus, each day!  You lose a tremendous amount of water and electrolytes.  All of us on the staff who work moring practices at Dalian Universtiy use electrolyte beverages to stay ahead.  We have had some athletes challenged by the heat here.

I wear SKINS compression tights during the day when I am working because they keep my legs fresh.  I also sleep in the Travel and Recovery SKINS at night which makes all the difference in my ability to work on 20 athletes a day in 30 minute blocks of time and stay on my feet!    At night, I massage a homeopathic cream (Traumeel, onto my forearms and hands especially, followed by a thick layer of Neutrogena Hand Cream, Norwegian Formula (fragrance free).  I then sleep in cotton gloves.   I also wear work gloves when we are loading massage tables and gear bags and pulling equipment carts when we travel to practices.  You have to protect your hands when you are not massaging or stretching from nicks, cuts, bruises, etc. that can occur when you least expect it.

The Chinese security continues to be tight here for the USA team.  We are probably the safest people in Dalian China at the moment.  We have three (3) training sites that we send therapist with athletes each day.  Three days ago I was at the China National training center where our throwers train (shot put, discus, javeling, hammer).  A group of Chinese physios gathered around me and wanted to ask me questions about our protocols of care.  I ended up demonstrating technique and stretching one of them because they were fascinated with the Yortho stabilizing straps that we use on all our USA team tables.  They were also impressed with the quality of the Olympic Special Edition Oakwork massage tables, which are absolutely stunning with the Olympic Rings and USA woven into the fabric.

At the end of my 40 minute inservice and demonstration, I was told by our Chinese translator that the woman who spoke with me was the Mayor of Dalian’s daughter who wants to study to be a physiotherapist and that one of the gentlemen in the audience watching me was in fact the Mayor?  Not sure on this with the translation but it appeared to be someone of importance.  Another positive cultural exchange.  Now whenever I am at the Training Center the Chinese Swat agent assigned to us has taken to addressing me as “doctor” and actually asked to take a photo with me–so I did.

All is well.  The Olympic Games have begun.  Our athletes are ready!

 Benny Vaughn LMT, ATC, CSCS

Dalian China

Beijing China 2008

Posted on August 8th, 2008 by Benny Vaughn
Filed under: 2008 Olympics | 10 Comments »

I am now in Dalian China at the USA Olympic Training camp for the Track and Field (Athletics) team.  The sports medicine crew arrived in Dalian on Thursday, July 31 one day ahead of the USA athletes who began arriving today (Friday).  Our USA Track and Field management team has been in Dalian for 10 days ahead of us preparing and checking all our logistical arrangements and believe me we have many!

Our training camp is located at a Five Star seaside resort in Dalian.  It is a beautiful hotel property, with a beach and view of the ocean with well manicured grounds and incredible service from the Chinese staff.  This type of service would be considered Ten Stars in America if there were such service available, it is truly incredible here at the resort.

Let me describe to you, without revealing security details around the USA Olympic Track and Field team, what a typical travel event through Dalian is like for us.  We travel to our training facility in Dalian and we have three training sites, twice a day.  Athletes and their coaches can sign up  for practice times.  We have a morning practice session and a late afternoon practice session.  All of our bus departure times are exact.  When Chinese security say the bus departs at a specific time, that bus departs at that time exactly for the training facility!  The security in our wing of the resort hotel is at the highest level afforded only the highest ranking government officials such as presidents and I am not kidding!  You have to see what it is like when the USA team travels through Dalian, a city of 18 million residents!

There are 2,000 police, military, and plain clothes Chinese government security involved with each bus transport event with the team.  You really have to see this production to believe it!  We have five police vehicles that escort our team bus.  There are police, government agents, etc. that are stationed along our route.  All traffice is stopped for our team bus, the townspeople line the streets in certain areas to catch a glimpse of the American team.  When we travel through Dalian, our team bus never stops!  It is a continous direct drive to the track stadium in Dalian from the hotel and we never stop!  The Police literally stop everything on the street for us to travel!  And that was not a typo at the beginning–we have two thousand (2,000) Chinese security officers from various branches providing protection for the USA team.  You cannot get into our section of the hotel without passing through several layers of very tight security.  On the grounds of the hotel at each security station you will find a stoic military security policeman standing motionless at attention at all times and I mean to tell you they are seriously stoic and at attention. 

 A Chineses SWAT officer rides at the front of our team bus while we are surrounded by ground police escort.  The Plain Clothes agents seem to be the highest ranking security agents.  They all wear the same type of vests that US Security details for the President of the United States wear and yes that are all carrying firearms.  I have never felt safer anywhere I have ever been on the planet than I do in Dalian China at this very moment.

We began our first evening of sports performance care for US athletes who arrived today at training camp.  Most of what we did today were massage and stretching to work out jet lag and travel tightness and kinks.  The food service is incredible for us.  We have an American chef from Denver supervising the kitchen with a staff of Chinese chefs and service staff.  The food prepared for us each day is as good as it gets here in Dalian.

I was assigned to cover our first practice at the China National team training facility in Dalian.  Besides all the police cars in the parking lot and SWAT team van standing by and all the townspeople trying to get a glimpse of Amercia Olympic team athletes, it was a pretty normal two hour practice for our athletes.  When I began stretching one of the USA sprinters who will run the 100 meter race, I drew an audience of Chinese coaches and athletes watching my every move and soaking it all in.

We have more USA athletes arriving tomorrow, Saturday and we will have a very full and long day.  Our clinic area operates from 7am to 11pm seven days a week with emergency after hours service  So far, so good.

 The Olympic Games are near but first things first, training camp began in earnest today.

 Benny Vaughn

 Dalian, China, 2008

Posted on August 1st, 2008 by Benny Vaughn
Filed under: 2008 Olympics | 10 Comments »

Hello to all!

I arrived in Beijing China yesterday afternoon (Wed. July 30, 2008). The USA Track and Field sports medicine staff all met in California on Monday, July 29 for Olympic Team processing. This was held at San Jose State University campus. We all flew into San Francisco and were bused to San Jose where processing took place for the entire day for staff and all USA athletes. We spent the night on campus in dorms and flew out direct to Beijing the next day, Tuesday and arrived in Beijing on Wednesday–a 12 hour flight pretty uneventful.

The Olympic Team processing is quite an operation. All staff and athletes go to multiple stations where you are fitted with your Olympic gear including Opening Ceremonies Parade uniforms and Olympic Village wear. The USA delegation is the largest at the Games followed by China. We will have over 600 members of the USA delegation with Track and Field being the largest team with 123 athletes. It is the Track and Field team that I will be working with.

The Team processing center was an efficient and fast paced operation with tailors from Polo Ralph Lauren fitting and doing alterations to Parade Uniforms through the night to have jackets and pants ready for athletes and staff departing on early flights the next day. The processing center operates for the entire week. You bascially enter the center with a shopping cart just like you would at a large grocery store. You push your cart around to various stations where you carry a clip board with a checklist of all the gear you are required to collect. You are fitted for hats, shoes, dress shirts, belts, more shoes, polo shirts, olympic pins, roller bags, shoulder bags, back packs and everything an athlete and staff will need while representing the United States of America. It is quite an operation to see–dozens of athletes from all sports pushing shopping carts around picking up clothing and gear. This place would be a sports fan mecca to see all the USA stars all in one place.

The USOC staff and Volunteers did an amazing job of making this experience smooth and efficient. They were simply great preparing our athletes to look great at the Games! By the way, wait until you see the USA delegation enter the Olympic Stadium (the Bird’s Nest) in the Polo Ralph Lauren designed suits! They look specatular and will proudly represent the USA look!

In Beijing: Our arrival at Beijing Internation airport was great. This new airport in Beijing is beautiful and very modern. We have flights arriving every day for the next 5 days of various USA teams. We were greeted by official China Olympic organizing committee officials who then escorted our group through customs and Olympic processing. There are special Olympic processing lanes in Customs to make the process smooth. The official Olympic mascot made an appearance and was a big hit with many USA athletes getting their photos with. You will see this mascot plenty once the Games begin.

With a truck load of gear and USA bags we were bused to Beijing Normal University in downtown Beijing. This is the where the USOC High Performance Training Center is located. This is a University Campus that the USOC (United States Olympic Committee) will house athletes and staff for training and preparation for the Olympic Games. This is a hotel–dorm style living with training facilites spread throughout Beijing. Our dining facilites, here at the USOC Training Center is as good as any Five Star restaurant and I am not exaggerating folks! America’s Olympic athletes are treated well, as they should be. These women and men have worked hard to reach this moment of being an Olympian!

I am only spending one night here in Beijing. The Track and Field sports medicine staff and athletes board a flight later orning to Dalian, China. It is about an hour flight Southeast of Beijing on the coast. If you look at a map of China, looking towards Korea you will see a small penisula on Korea Bay. We will have a track and field team training camp in Dalian until several days before Track and Field (known as Athletics around the world) competition begins. During this training camp we have two practice sessions daily along with all the sports performance medical care. We will provide lots of massage therapy, stretching, hyrdotherapy baths and any other sports medicine care necessary. It is a full on operation preparing the best Track and Field team in the world!

We board our flight in two hours for Dalian. I will let you know how our operation is set up to provide best care for our athletes.

Thus far, our Chinese hosts have been absolutely awesome! Many people gather at the gates of our training center in Beijing each time a bus arrives to catch a glimpse of USA athletes arriving. The Chinese are very excited about hosting these historical Olympic Games. Stay tuned–this is going to be a great time!

Benny Vaughn LMT, ATC
Beijing China 2008

Posted on July 30th, 2008 by Benny Vaughn
Filed under: 2008 Olympics | 1 Comment »

Hello all,

Benny Vaughn here.  I just spent 13 days in beautiful Eugene, Oregon, for the 2008 Olympic Team Trials to select the Track and Field athletes that will represent the USA in Beijing, China. We are exactly four weeks from Opening Ceremonies in Beijing.  On Friday, August 08, 2008 at exactly 8:08pm local time, the ceremonies will commence.

The role of massage therapists in the sport of track and field carries a high level of importance for many U.S.  athletes.  During the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, there were more than 30 massage therapists who volunteered their time and expertise to some of America’s most talented athletes. The majority of the top 10% of USA track and field athletes employ personal providers, of which most are massage therapists and chiropractors.  The role of soft-tissue therapy for both performance preparation and performance recovery is critical to these athletes, where most running events require several rounds of racing to advance to the finals or medal round. 

 I was employed by three elite sprinters, a decathlete, and a 1500 meter runner to provide massage therapy and stretching services.  I’m proud to say, all five of these athletes I worked with made the USA Olympic Team and will be representing the United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics!

To get through four very hard sprint races in two days, as was required for the 100 meters, necessitates having good personal medical support in the form of massage therapy and chiropractic.  Ask any elite track and field athlete, from the 100 meter to the marathon,  and they’ll all undoubtedly tell you how important this is to their performance and recovery!

Many massage therapists often contact me and say they want to do what I have done with my massage career and work with top competitive athletes.  What I want to make clear, first and foremost, there is nothing glamorous about the work I do with athletes at this level.  But I enjoy my profession and my work totally–an 18-hour work day does not feel like work to me!  And I am not exaggerating when I say it’s an 18 hour work day!  I have been a massage therapy, personal medical provider for track and field athletes since 1977.  I have worked at Track and Field Olympic Trials since 1980 (’88, ‘92,’96, 2000, 2004, 2008).  I have worked in Europe and Asia, including the World Championships in 2003 (Paris) and 2007 (Osaka).

 What goes on behind the scenes to ready athletes is driven by “hands-on” care! Skilled and knowledgeable massage therapists play a critical role for the athletes and coaches in this area.

During the Olympic Trials in Eugene, massage therapists like myself were known as personal medical (PM) providers. Those are the credentials we’re issued, and all massage therapists must purchase these credentials at the Trials, Olympics, World Championships, etc. to have access to their athletes.  A massage therapist working as a credentialed PM must pay $245 for the credential per person.  So for myself and my one associate, our credential cost was $490.  At the Olympics in Athens in 2004, the Athlete Support Credential cost $300 to $500 each depending on venue access. 

In my collection of credentials from track and field meets and championships over the past 30 years, I hold an Olympic Games “Infinity” credential that allows you access into most areas at the Olympic Games, and I might add, it also gives you access to some pretty good seats if I ever had time to attend any events! Ask any veteran Olympic official what it takes to be issued an “Infinity” credential, and they’ll ask in reply, “What branch of government is this person in?”  I was issued such a credential in 2004 in Athens, Greece. It is my most prized credential in my collection, next to my Atlanta 1996 credential that allowed me onto the “Field of Play” at the track in Olympic Stadium as the “athlete’s medical liaison.”

The organization of the medical and massage therapy services at the Trials in Eugene was superb by any standard!  The massage therapists and chiropractors did an incredible job of providing high quality and professional care to America’s best track and field athletes.  In the Personal Medical area, the number of athletes who have now employed personal massage therapists and chiropractors appears to have doubled from the 2004 Olympic Trials.  I can only speculate that more and more professional track and field athletes see the tremendous benefit of not only receiving regular weekly massage therapy, but also that the massage therapist is a highly important member of the athlete’s support team.

While in China, I will blog my experiences before and during the Games.  I will be in China for one month.  We have a training camp for two weeks before Track and Field competition begins in Beijing. I will share my personal experiences and much of what it is like behind-the-scenes as a massage therapist at the greatest sporting event on the planet.  Stay tuned and hold on, because I believe this may be one of the greatest Olympic Games ever!

Benny Vaughn LMT, ATC, NCTMB

Fort Worth, Texas USA

Posted on July 11th, 2008 by Benny Vaughn
Filed under: 2008 Olympics | 7 Comments »