Alpine Skiing

The fast paced world of alpine skiing takes its toll on athletes, and each day, it's the physiotherapists that help get the competitors back into shape.

That job is becoming increasingly more demanding, says Alpine Canada's head physiotherapist, Kent Kolbeka - and often the job extends beyond physical conditioning and therapy.

"Really, they are part time psychologists," Kobelka said of his staff. "They have lots of one on one time, and are really the middle person between the coaching staff and the athlete."

Since he started working with the team in 2001, Kolbeka says Alpine Canada's medical programs have grown significantly.

"There used to be no follow-up in the summer," Kolbeka said in an interview with CTVOlympics.ca. "Now the attention is constant."

Though Kobelka rarely travels with the team in season, he spends his summers working closely with injured athletes as they progress through rehab programs.

This summer, Kobelka has been spending much of his time with downhill racer Jan Hudec, At the 2009 Worlds, Hudec tore his knee and had to have surgery that sidelined him for the season.

The relationship that has developed between Kobelka and Hudec after a few years of rehab - this wasn't Hudec's first knee injury - has become a close one, where both know the goals, and their roles.

"We both have to be accountable to the other," said Kobelka. "You get to know when you need to push."

Aside from motivation, Kobelka pays keen attention to the work the athlete is doing.

"In rehab, I'm watching where and how they are moving," says Kobelka, who adds Hudec is unlike many athletes he's worked with.

"Every injury he's come back stronger. That's very unique in an athlete," Kobelka said.

Heading into the winter season, Kobelka hires the staff of traveling physiotherapists - six in all - that will work with the athletes on the World Cup circuit.

"Once we have the athletes into the return to snow program in the fall, the travelling physios take over," he said.

The travelling staff are up at 6am helping the athletes prepare by doing soft tissue work, massages and taping before the skiers head out to the course. Before the races, the physios help inspect the course, and monitor the race prep and warm up routines.

As athletes line up at the start hut, the physio is the last person they speak to. Standing at the top of the run, the physio is linked with coaches via radio. The coaching staff sits along the course, spotting other competitors for ways in which the Canadian team can find the extra split seconds needed for victory. The coaches report to the physio, who passes on the most relevant information to the athlete.

"The relationship is very close between athlete and physio," said Kobelka. "It's an art to know the athletes and what info they need."

Following a race, the physio gets back to work, helping lead some training sessions, including routines specific to individual athletes. In the evening, the physio then works on old injuries a skier may have - tight hips are common - to help the competitor be ready for the next day.

"We don't want to wait for the injuries to happen, we'd rather be proactive," said Kobelka.

To that end, the staff work together with the strength and conditioning coaches and help incorporate new research into the training regimes to squeeze more strength and efficiency out of the workouts, paying special attention to areas known to be problems.

"I never understood the load on the athletes until I sideslipped a racecourse," Kobelka said of his early years with the team. "The first time on the Kitzbuhel, and I was so scared, I just tried to get down safely. I was just sideslipping, and these athletes have to race down that hill."

No matter how scary a course might be, one of the worst things a skier can do is to ski defensively.

"When you ski that way, you're prone to injury," said Kobelka. "They need to stay aggressive, and that's a big reminder when the athletes return to snow each year."