What is your role within the support team, and what are your primary responsibilities?
As performance support lead for physiotherapy my role is to co-ordinate and map the physiotherapy support needs of Team Ireland. The main goal is seamless support, where possible providing the athletes with access to their usual care. I work with the wider physiotherapy team – those in the HQ team and those appointed by the individual sports to support them in their planning and preparation. When the Games are on I and another HQ physiotherapy team member provide support for smaller sports.
How does your role contribute to the overall performance and wellbeing of the athletes?
I am part of the wider Team Ireland support team. We approach everything holistically and how we deliver our support depends heavily on the needs of the athlete.
How did you first become involved in this field, and what inspired you to pursue this career?
I did physiotherapy in college followed by a sports physio masters in Australia, which started my journey working in sport. I started delivering support to rowing in 2005.
What’s your favourite Olympic memory?
Paris is my fifth summer Olympic Games with Team Ireland. My favourite one would probably have to be my first Games – Beijing 2008. I was in the stadium when Usain Bolt won gold in the 100m and broke the world record. We were sitting in the middle of the Jamaican fans and the atmosphere was electric. That memory has always stayed with me.
Can you describe a typical day during the Olympics?
After setting up the physio space we typically meet as a HQ team to plan the day. This will include updates from the daily chef de mission meeting, details about arrivals and departures to the village, competition plans and logistics for physio staff. Then I will meet with the chief medical officer and update the wider physio team. Across the day I will provide clinic support for the sports I am working with, manage the physio space and support other physios when needed.
If there is a break in my schedule I try to watch some events – tennis and athletics are always a favourite. For meal times I head to the food hall. Aside from the food it’s often a hotspot for swapping pins with other countries.
What are you most looking forward to?
Supporting athletes at the Olympics is a remarkable opportunity for any practitioner. Really, I am most looking forward to working within Team Ireland and seeing the performances from our biggest team ever.
What strategies do you use to help athletes recover?
We work closely with physiology and nutrition to monitor athlete recovery, fuelling and sleep. We utilise mobility and reformer sessions as active recovery modalities.
If you hadn’t become a physiotherapist what would you have done?
I have an interest in science and my second college choice was biotechnology, so maybe something along those lines
Sarah-Jane McDonnell is Team Ireland performance support lead, physiotherapy, and head of rehabilitation, Sport Ireland Institute. Sport Ireland Institute is the official performance support delivery partner to the Olympic Federation of Ireland.
