School of Kinesiology Professor Michael Koehle is among several KIN faculty members working with Athletics Canada for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.
Mike’s role at the Games is as a physician for Canada’s Track & Field athletes based in Sapporo, the site of the race walk and marathon events, to help the athletes achieve their maximal performance by managing and mitigating any injuries or illnesses that occur leading up to and during the competition. He will be working with a large team of physical therapists, physiologists, mental performance consultants, coaches, chiropractors and logisticians, and is most looking forward to “getting into that team environment and working together to help the athletes as best as possible.”
With regard to other Olympic experience as medical support staff, Mike also played a key role at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver as the Venue Medical Officer for Whistler Olympic Park. This year, there is an added challenge for both the teams and the medical staff at the Olympics. Amidst preparations for the Games, all participants have had to keep in mind concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. With Tokyo under a state of emergency, the Japanese authorities have devised a comprehensive strategy to reduce risks of transmission among both athletes and the Japanese population.
During his time as a student at both the University of Toronto and UBC, Mike competed in varsity rowing and Nordic skiing. He has also participated in other sports, competing in triathlons and extensive cycling races including 800 km, 20,000m elevation, and the Haute Route bike race in the Alps. Amidst his other duties teaching, supervising, conducting research, and writing in the School of Kinesiology, Mike works at the Allan McGavin Sport and Exercise Medicine Centre one day per week as a physician and states that he “loves to keep people moving.”
“All my work is about trying to remove barriers to physical activity. To practice sports medicine, you need to know a thing or two about every single sport.”