Dialogue with the team doctor of the Chinese alpine ski team at the Winter Olympics: Doctors who can't ski can't be doctors with the Winter Olympics

During the Winter Olympics, Peng Li was responsible for the medical protection of athletes.

Zhang Qi, Sichuan online reporter Fan Ruiling

On February 10, in the men's all-around alpine skiing competition at the Beijing Winter Olympics, Chinese players Zhang Yangming and Xu Mingfu finally ranked 16th and 17th, creating the best results in the history of Chinese athletes in the alpine skiing competition of the Winter Olympics.

At the end of the alpine ski track, watching the runners successfully complete the race, Peng Li, the accompanying doctor of the Chinese alpine ski team and the doctor of the trauma group of the Department of Orthopedic Trauma of the Affiliated Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Southwest Medical University, was very excited. Since being selected for the National Medical Security Corps in January 2021, he has spent time with the alpine ski team members, providing them with medical and health care services.

How did he become a team doctor? What is the daily routine during the Winter Olympics?...... After the game, the Sichuan online reporter dialed Peng Li's phone.

Sichuan Online Reporter: In today's race, have you been at the end of the alpine skiing track?

Peng Li: Yes. Before the start of the race, as a team doctor, we will carry out a series of pre-race preparations for the athletes such as muscle activation and traction, and after the start of the race, we will wait for the athletes at the finish line to finish the race.

Sichuan Online Reporter: Seeing that China's Zhang Yangming and Xu Mingfu successfully finished the game, how did you feel in your heart?

Peng Li: Very excited and happy. Everyone was cheering and shouting at the scene, because everyone understood that this completion was a historic moment for both individual athletes and China.

Peng Li said that for this moment, everyone is doing their best.

Sichuan Online Reporter: What was your daily work during the Beijing Winter Olympics?

Peng Li: As a team doctor, my main task is to be responsible for the medical protection of athletes. During the Beijing Winter Olympics, before the games, I need to help athletes do some muscle activation and stretching, so that the athletes' bodies can reach the best state. When the race starts, I need to go to the end of the track to wait for the finishing athletes, and if the athletes have injuries or strains, they need to deal with them immediately.

In addition, in the preparation training, I need to assist the athletes to do some routine recovery, such as muscle relaxation, traction, etc.; If athletes have internal diseases such as toothache and stomach pain, they also need to be dealt with in time.

Sichuan Online Reporter: How did you become a doctor of the Chinese Alpine Ski Team to come to the Winter Olympics?

Peng Li: I am a physician in the Trauma Group of the Department of Orthopedic Trauma of the Affiliated Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Southwest Medical University, and I have experience with the team before. Both my undergraduate and graduate students are studying at Chengdu Institute of Physical Education. During my graduate studies, I did medical support for the weightlifting team of Chengdu Institute of Physical Education, which was also the provincial weightlifting team at that time. In 2020, I provided medical coverage to the National Three-Man Basketball Club.

During a refresher training in 2020, I learned that the Chinese alpine ski team was recruiting team doctors from all over the world in preparation for the Beijing Winter Olympics. With the support of the hospital, I submitted my resume, participated in the re-examination, interviewed, and finally was selected to the National Medical Security Team in January 2021 and became the doctor accompanying the Chinese Alpine Ski Team.

Sichuan Online Reporter: Compared with the previous experience, what is the difference between the doctors accompanying the Chinese Alpine Ski Team? What's the hard part?

Peng Li: Its difference, difficulty and complexity can be attributed to the different environments of alpine skiing competitions, high altitude, low temperature, and uneven terrain, so the rescue conditions are relatively poor. At the same time, alpine skiing is the fastest and highest risk factor of all Winter Olympic events, and the maximum speed of athletes can reach 140 km /h during competition, and the injury rate is close to 15%. Once an athlete is injured, it is usually more serious, so the doctors in the team must have a wealth of first aid knowledge and rescue literacy.

In addition, as a doctor accompanying the ski team, skiing has become a compulsory course if you want to arrive at the scene for treatment at the first time. In preparation for the Winter Olympics, I practice skiing in my free time and constantly improve my skiing skills.

Sichuan Online Reporter: In preparation for the Winter Olympics, what is the thing that impressed you the most?

Peng Li: The only way to improve every sport is to keep practicing.

In preparation for the Winter Olympics, starting in August 2021, we followed the athletes to Austria, Italy, Germany and other places to train. One of the times I was impressed was when an athlete accidentally twisted his waist during the descent, and he was particularly anxious, afraid of delaying daily training and follow-up competitions. On the third day after the treatment, after the waist injury had eased, he hurriedly continued to train again.

In my impression, athletes often have old injuries that are not completely better and new injuries, but they do not care about these minor injuries and small diseases, and their determination to prepare for the Winter Olympics has always been firm, in order to play their best level at the Beijing Winter Olympics, whether it is athletes or others behind them, they are doing their best!

(Courtesy of the interviewee)