February 17, 2022
After two significant concussions caused him lasting sensory deprivations, U.S. Olympic ice dancer and 2022 Winter Games competitor Jean-Luc Baker traveled from his training center in Montreal, Canada, to receive a full-body assessment at Texas Children’s Hospital.
Texas Children’s is a Team USA National Medical Center and the Official Pediatric Medicine Provider for the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC). That means we’re caring for the dream with our sports medicine and orthopedic surgeons, physical therapists, dietitians and psychologists at the ready throughout their journeys from the “playground to the podium.”
“We are honored to provide comprehensive care across the entire medical spectrum for elite athletes through our relationship with the USOPC,” said Dr. Jeffrey Shilt, Vice Chair of Surgery-Community at Texas Children’s, Pediatric Sports Medicine Liaison to the USOPC and Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board for USA Cycling.
Baker went through 3-4 days of comprehensive testing at The Woodlands with at least a dozen highly specialized physicians, dietitians and other Sports Medicine providers to understand the source of his sensory issues and develop a tailored treatment plan to keep him at the top of his game.
“It was one of the most intense experiences of my life, but in the best way possible,” said Baker, 28, who finished 11th in ice dancing in Beijing. “Texas Children’s Hospital really helped me have a significantly better understanding of my body and how to fine-tune it to be the best athlete I can possibly be.”
The Woodlands campus is home to the Motion Analysis and Human Performance Laboratory, where athletes enjoy the support of a team of physicians, therapists, biomechanists and exercise physiologists to analyze their movement patterns, muscle activation and force generation en route to better health.
As pediatric providers often bring a unique perspective to caring for congenital conditions because of their extensive experience treating them through a patient’s childhood and teenage years, Texas Children’s also has a specialist from the renowned Adult Congenital Heart Program supporting the USOPC.
And at the Pavilion for Women, specialized providers are caring for the growing number of female athletes ranging from amateur to world-class. Under the leadership of Dr. Chimsom T. Oleka and Dr. Sara Arian, a team of women’s health experts provide comprehensive reproductive and medical care to female athletes of all ages, throughout all stages of their reproductive years – meeting the medical, psychological and athletic needs of females from birth and beyond.
