Quad City doctor works with U.S. Olympic Ski & Snowboard Teams

Moline, Ill. (KWQC) - We’ve all enjoyed the thrill of seeing Olympic athletes try to push themselves to the limit, but before they get to the games, they practice in front of a different group of spectators.

U.S. Olympic physicians quietly watch as racing ski teams practice at camps. That includes a doctor from the Quad Cities.

It all started several years ago when Dr. Tom VonGillern vacationed from his practice at ORA Orthopedics in Moline to Copper Mountain in the Colorado Rockies. That’s where he joined the ski patrol and gave lessons.

“Actually, the building that houses the racing program is literally, I walk by every single day and somebody just flagged me down and started asking me some questions because they knew who I was and one thing led to things. So, I went ahead and said, yeah, I’d be willing to look at that,” said Dr. VonGillern.

The next thing you know, he’s working with top-tier athletes like gold medalist Breezy Johnson, Mikaela Shiffrin, and veteran Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn.

“What I do is largely observation and I’m kind of in a situation where all of us are a kind of, just-in-case something happens. You’re there available to take care of any emergency situations,” he added.

Unfortunately, a situation did happen a week before the Olympics at the World Cup in Switzerland when Lindsey Vonn crashed, rupturing a knee ligament called the ACL.

Despite the injury, she went on to compete, leaving some wondering, how?

Can you compete with a torn ACL?

“If the knee is relatively stable, especially if it’s well-supported by good muscle components, strong quadriceps and hamstrings, if that’s the case, then oftentimes people can function relatively normally with the support of quad and the hamstrings. And someone that is a nationally ranked, world class skier, they have really good quadriceps, really good hamstrings.”

Dr. VonGillern adds the decision to compete with an injury is up to the individual athlete.

Downhill racing at speeds up to 90 MPH

So, what is it like to race downhill at speeds up to 90-miles-per hour? An avid skier himself, Dr. VonGillern shares some insight.

“There are a lot of sports where the rush of adrenaline that keeps people going back to that sport and the feel of racing down a hill with good carving on a narrow track is extremely exciting and I can see why they do it. But the more you do it the faster you’ll go and the faster you go, the more thrilling it is.”

What’s next for Dr. VonGillern?

As for this busy orthopedic surgeon, don’t expect him to slow down, either.

“It’s like anything, if you like what you’re doing, if you like your work, it really isn’t work and the same thing with skiing, I teach skiing and it’s absolutely fun.”

Going to the Olympics

Dr. VonGillern served as U.S. Olympic Physician for men’s and women’s ski and snowboard teams for both the Beijing and Milan-Cortina Olympics. While he participated in training in the U.S., due to scheduling conflicts, he was not able to join the teams in China or Italy.