Individual athlete support at the Olympics
The sewing machine chatters on, 10.02.2010
When senior orthotists Dirk Schwager and Peter Feichtinger look after the Olympians in the Canadian town of Whistler, they pull out all the stops: armed with a sewing machine, the German-Austrian Bauerfeind pair also sometimes see to the competition clothing of athletes.
At the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Canada, Zeulenroda-based Bauerfeind AG is for the first time making its products and the orthopedic supply service available to the athletes of all participating nations. The international Bauerfeind team on site is true to its calling as a "Friend of the Games": the orthotists help wherever they can, customizing supports and orthoses as well as making adjustments to the equipment of the athletes on request.
Senior orthotists Peter Feichtinger and Dirk Schwager are looking after the athletes in Whistler, some 120 kilometers north of Vancouver. They are in close contact with the polyclinic in the Olympic village, which has everything - from an optician through computer tomographs to an operating theatre. The orthopedic supply station is part of the treatment area, where chiropractitioners, physios and sports physicians work. Thanks to their Canadian cell phones, the two Bauerfeind technicians can be contacted round the clock - whether inside or outside the Olympic village.
The Olympic villages - and hence the polyclinics - have been open since February 4. Each day sees more athletes arriving to train and begin their immediate competition preparations. Demand for supports, orthoses and compression stockings from Bauerfeind is rising accordingly.
The first specific tasks have come about through direct contact. Imagination and painstaking care were the order of the day as the German luge team asked for a modification to the racing suit of one of their athletes. A luger asked for changes to the vest with the start number. It was sewn tighter in order to reduce aerodynamic drag to a minimum - after all, the luge is all about thousandths of a second. In Vancouver, meanwhile, orthotist Christian Laimann is looking for a solution for the damaged elbow of a speed skater: the arm should be mobile, but must not be overstretched. A strap system on the support could prevent this. And, yet again, the sewing machines of the Bauerfeind Olympic team are doing sterling work. Their familiar chattering is certain to be heard plenty more times yet.
Contact:
Christian Grimm
Team Leader, Corporate Communications
CAN cell +1 778-996-38 59
