All Olympics-bound Indian athletes are fit, says IOA chief medical officer Pardiwala

Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala ensures Indian athletes are fit for Paris Olympics with top medical support and recovery facilities.

Renowned sports medicine expert Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala on July 6 said that all the Indian athletes participating in the Paris Olympics, including ace javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, were "fit enough" to perform on the big stage when the quadrennial showpiece gets underway on July 26.

Dr. Pardiwala, the chief medical officer (CMO) of the nearly 120-strong Indian contingent for the Paris Games, said that his 13-member team would render the best possible medical assistance to the contingent in the areas of injury management, sports nutrition, mental conditioning, sports massage, recovery and sleep.

“All the athletes that are going for the Olympics are fit right now. Some athletes will have minor niggles here and there. I am not going to be discussing any specific injuries to any athlete that they’ve had in the past, but all of them who are there are there because they are going to be capable and they’re going to be fit enough to perform,” he said.

Dr. Pardiwala has treated some of the top athletes, including India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who suffered serious injuries during a car crash, and Tokyo Games silver medallist weightlifter Mirabai Chanu.

The Indian Olympic Association, Sports Ministry and the Sports Authority of India have brought together a team of top medical experts, headed by Dr. Pardiwala, to give the best rest and recovery facilities to athletes as they bid to better the seven-medal haul at the Tokyo Olympics. “This is the first time the Indian athletes will have a recovery room and a preparational rehabilitation room to make them game ready,” said Dr. Pardiwala.

In the past, athletes had to visit a common polyclinic for approximately 10,000 competitors to avail physiotherapy and recovery services, and getting slots was time-consuming. But this time around, the 13-member medical team will take care of those aspects so that the athletes only focus on their events and “not waste time” thinking about rest and recovery.

“It will be open 24x7. We’ve also got a sleep therapist on board because, over the years, one of the concerns has been inadequate sleep for rest and recovery. Time zones are different, and the pressures and anxiety are there. So, to ensure athletes don’t land up with inadequate sleep, we’ve got a sleep therapist on board who will address all these concerns,” he said. “We’ve already started sleep therapy sessions and we are also going to have some sleep pods for helping our athletes on the sleep aspect,” he said.