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News: Massage and Bodywork at the Olympics
Michael Phelps
“I have been getting two massages a day and ice baths.”
Lolo Jones
“A businessman needs a laptop. Athletes need massages and the right diet.”
Dara Torres
“…and the two proceeded to massageTorres’s shoulders and legs with their feet so their hands wouldn’t tire and they could apply more force…”
After three minutes of massage, she bolted for the finish.
You might not be able to keep up with Olympic marathon runner and U student Zuzana Tomas in a race, but friends, family and fellow Utes have been able to follow her experiences in Beijing by reading her blog.
Tomas, a doctoral student in linguistics, competed August 17 as a marathon runner on the Slovak women’s track and field team. She finished 67th with a time of 2:49:39. Read more…
…the recovery comes from massages between bouts and after them to relax the muscles and body.
BEIJING: Shy, unassuming and almost self-effacing and yet very confident, is how one can describe wrestler Sushil Kumar, who till 15 minutes before he won the bronze medal was not on the minds of the Indian media.
Having lost his opening bout in the morning, Sushil had been dismissed by large sections of the media as having been ‘ousted’, ‘eliminated’ and more. Read more…
For two heaving weeks, you could sense a planet cringing over the prospect that its Godzilla Olympic nation, the Bahamas, would get more than one medal and put the old chokehold on the vital Medals Per Capita proceedings.
Australia turned up in Beijing muscular as ever. Armenia surfaced and spent five days at No. 1. New Zealand had banner Beijing Games and menaced. Here came Slovenia, of course. Jamaica became a blur on the track and a Zeus in the standings. The Bahamas surfaced with a first medal as a fur-flying race loomed. Read more…
It seems that nowadays it’s very unusual to hear of a serious athlete who doesn’t employ massage as part of their training regimen and recovery strategy. Indeed, if the budget permits, any Olympic athlete today will receive massage therapy at least once or twice per week - or some (like Michael Phelps) even twice a day! Here’s a list of quotes by or about various athletes from the Beijing Games about massage and bodywork.
Michael Phelps
I have been getting two massages a day and ice baths.
She massaged me for ten minutes before the game against Spain and it was the best game of the tournament
By Sophie Hardach
BEIJING (Reuters) - Happy elves, Viking rituals and a back rub from the first lady are powering Iceland’s handballers on their way to what could be a first Olympic gold for their frosty island.
Iceland’s handballers usually struggle to attract 500 spectators when they play at home. But their formidable performance has fired up the entire nation of 300,000 people — when they played against Spain in the semi-finals, every single television set on Iceland was tuned into the game.
By DUSTIN DOW • Gannett News Service • August 22, 2008
A midnight meal of Kobe beef, following a massage and an ice bath Thursday night, helped refresh his body for what turned out to be the most crucial part of the competition on Friday morning.
BEIJING — Bryan Clay can sleep now, and he can dream about being the Olympic decathlon champion. When he wakes up, it will still be true.
Sleep deprived and exhausted, Clay, who is coached by Carson High School graduate Kevin Reid, persevered to win the decathlon Friday at the Beijing Olympics, joining the likes of Jim Thorpe, Bob Mathias, Bruce Jenner and Dan O’Brien in American athletic lore. Read more…
Kartar Singhji gave me the massage in between bouts.
Agencies
BEIJING, Aug 21: No mobiles and no milling crowds around. Just a few mediamen, asking him about the ‘Day After’. And he himself came to the Media Centre to meet ~ in his own words ~ “the people who have promoted me all these days”. Read more…
He had taken until Thursday to recover, spending some time in ice-baths and on the massage table…
CHINA is a land of epic walks. The biggest was The Long March in 1934, a tactical military retreat of 12,500 kilometres in more than a year that led eventually to the ascent of Mao Zedong to the premiership of China.
Mending U.S. soccer star sees prediction come true for team
She undergoes daily massage therapy in an attempt to improve circulation and strengthen her leg muscles…
August 22, 2008
BEIJING — Abby Wambach watched Thursday’s Olympic women’s soccer game on a big-screen television at a restaurant in Alexandria Bay, in northern New York, where she is vacationing with her family.
And although she was 7,000 miles away, the Rochester native felt as if she were on that field in China. Read more…
Get rid of knots and stiff muscles simply by rolling your muscles with a Foam Roller. Bodywork and fitness specialists alike recommended using foam rollers to keep muscles flexible and healthy.
For two heaving weeks, you could sense a planet cringing over the prospect that its Godzilla Olympic nation, the Bahamas, would get more than one medal and put the old chokehold on the vital Medals Per Capita proceedings.
