«The Olympic athlete has one special characteristic: he hardly ever gives up competing.»

You treated athletes at the Olympic Games. What does this experience mean to you?

Dr. Marano: It was an experience that took me right into the heart of the athletic elite. I felt great excitement! It was a very inspiring adventure because it allowed me to live in daily contact with truly top athletes whom I followed on TV until the day before, and whom I then visited in the office during the Olympics. I am a sports doctor and a huge sports fan; this experience has left a mark on me that I will remember for the rest of my life.

What challenges did you face?

Dr. Marano: From a professional point of view, I was already well prepared thanks to my education: In Lugano, I am in medical charge of the hockey and football teams, but without having to deal with critical, high-acuity situations. That's exactly what was required of me at the Olympic Games.

As a sports physician at the Olympic Games, immediacy is required: you have to manage everything at once. That was the difference to what I normally do in Lugano. At the Games, you have to react immediately because the athletes compete in real time. And that's the really exciting test: to assess and deal with the problem immediately. It's definitely different to anything I normally experience in my job in Ticino.

Was there a very special experience or a particularly memorable moment during the Games?

Dr. Marano: There were a few memorable moments, one of which I remember particularly well: Once, when I arrived at work at 6.30am, I found myself in the middle of the French rugby team's gold party, and it really was great fun! Or how could I forget the general excitement at the games? For example, with Federica Pellegrini and with Marsel Jacob (100m athlete) ...

I also remember visiting the athlete Khadija El Mardi, world heavyweight champion in 2023 and the first African, Arab, Moroccan woman, mother of three, to win a gold medal in boxing. She told me about her life and what winning has meant to her. She also explained to me what it means to come from an Arab country and to be a woman and how she is committed to opening centres for women in her country where they can do sport. And about her disappointment when she didn't manage to realise her dream of winning the Olympics. She spoke of her father, who had encouraged and supported her to take up sport: he had died shortly before the Olympic Games.

The Olympic Games thrive on stories like these. They testify to the strength of the athletes, some of whom come from countries where it is not always easy to do sport. Only athletes with a lot of tenacity can make it this far.

What measures have you taken to ensure that the athletes remain healthy and fit during the Games?

Dr. Marano: Basically, we tried to do what we do in our daily work in Ticino. As we have already said, the experience gained at the centro dello sport was very valuable.

How has treating professional athletes influenced your understanding of health and prevention and how do you use this knowledge in your daily work?

Dr Marano: I think that sports medicine practised with elite athletes is always on a knife-edge: We always go very far in terms of the treatments we recommend and the management of injuries.

Over time, we manage to transfer these treatments  into daily practice. Amateur athletes benefit from the experience we gain with top athletes. Working with top athletes helps us a lot in our daily work and many patients also realise that our approach differs from that of other physicians.