Injuries to Athletes

More than 50 percent of sports related injuries can be avoided, according to Olympic coach, Bruce Thomas II, who specializes in sports medicine. He is currently the consulting physician to the People's Republic of China national baseball team. Dr. Thomas also consults with the LPGA and PGA players in the states on a regular basis.

In most sports, timing is everything, (especially in the Olympics). "Sometimes they push too hard both internally and externally; both the coaches and intrinsically, from the athlete. There's a fine line when an athlete peaks in their performance," said Dr. Thomas. 

Athletes do not allow enough time for their injuries to heal properly, nor enough time for the body to heal and rest between training and injuries.

"Lance Armstrong has both the ideal training, ideal mind, ideal body, which brought him incredible success," says Dr. Jeffrey Spencer, cyclist and Olympic coach, eight times on the Tour de France. "You have to have confidence in yourself. You have to have a positive mental attitude every day," said Dr. Spencer. "You have to have the freedom, the mindset to embrace change immediately. You can have a longer athletic career. It doesn't have to be finite."