Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Huge Mental Health Care Effort For Olympic Athletes Begins
Dallas Morning News: Sparked By Simone Biles, Athletes At Paris Olympics To Have Vast Mental Health Resources
“The walls are coming down,” Dr. Jess Bartley, the USOPC’s senior director of psychological services said. “More and more athletes are talking about it.” (Sherrington, 7/22)
The New York Times: Mental Health And The Olympics: How The USOPC Is Preparing For The Toll On Athletes
As more athletes have been open about mental health struggles, the USOPC has expanded its offerings to address more than just the physical. (Auerbach, 7/25)
Fortune Well: Team USA Psychologist Cares For Olympians’ Mental Health At 2024 Paris Games
Kweku Smith, PhD, will make his Olympic debut in the City of Light less than a year after joining the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee as a psychological services provider. Smith says he and his colleagues will be on call 24/7 throughout the Olympics and Paralympics, ready to tend to athletes’ mental health whether they’re in crisis or just need to bend an ear. Athletes are also free to schedule an appointment with a psychologist, or flag one down in the Olympic Village or the arena where they’re competing. (Leake, 7/25)
More health news from the Paris Olympics —
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School Of Public Health: Public Health Prep For The Paris Olympics
Like any mass gathering event, there is a raised risk of public health threats. So how does the International Olympic Committee (IOC) mitigate these dangers—both before and during the competitions? In this Q&A, adapted from the July 24 episode of Public Health On Call, Lucia Mullin, MPH, an associate scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and an associate in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, talks with Lindsay Smith Rogers about her role as a member of the WHO Collaborating Center for Global Health Security's mass gathering expert group, the inner workings of preventative public health measures during the Olympics, and insights gained from previous Games. (7/24)
AP: An Olympic-Sized Fight Erupts Among Anti-Doping Officials, And It's Just Getting Started
Global regulators hinted at sanctioning America’s drug-fighting watchdog, a suggestion that further ratchets up tensions between those in charge of keeping sports clean. (Pells, 7/25)
The Washington Post: Olympic Athletes Are Approaching The Limits Of Human Performance
At the Paris Olympics over the next three weeks, thousands of athletes will compete to win medals and stand on podiums. A select handful will be striving for something even greater. The Olympics are not only a spectacle for determining the world’s best athletes. They are a quadrennial window into the limits of human performance. (Kilgore and Giambalvo, 7/26)
Deseret News: McDonald’s Is Off The Menu At The Paris Olympics
Philipp Würz, head of food at the 2024 Paris Olympics, told The Guardian that “French organizers were keen to raise standards after he read that 20% of athletes’ meals during the London Olympics were consumed at McDonald’s.” Legendary track athlete Usain Bolt famously said that he ate 1,000 nuggets over 10 days during the 2008 Games, when he won two gold medals for individual sprints, per The Guardian. (7/25)
CBS News: Could "Rock Solid" Cardboard Beds At Olympics Impact Performance? A Sleep Expert Weighs In
To complete at the Olympic level in Paris this year, athletes surely need a good night's rest — but that doesn't seem to be the case for some athletes sleeping on the viral cardboard beds in the Olympic village. The beds, which many have joked are "anti-sex" beds due to the materials used, have actually proven to be quite sturdy — almost too sturdy ... Unfavorable conditions could impact an athlete's sleep, recovery and performance, Dr. Carlos M. Nunez, sleep expert and chief medical officer at medical device company ResMed, told CBS News. (Moniuszko, 7/25)
The Wall Street Journal: The Dirty Secret Of Olympic Swimming: Everyone Pees In The Pool
If you thought the Olympics was the culmination of four years of blood, sweat and tears, we regret to inform you that La Défense Arena in Paris will be overflowing with a different bodily fluid. It turns out that every athlete who takes a plunge into the Olympic pool will probably relieve themselves in there, too. (Higgins, 7/26)
Popsugar: The History Of Condoms At The Olympics
This year, Olympic Village director Laurent Michaud told Sky News that there are a whopping 300,000 condoms available for the 10,500 athletes competing at the 2024 Paris Games (that's almost 29 condoms per athlete, mind you). "It is important that the conviviality here is something big," Michaud said. Over email, a Paris 2024 spokesperson confirmed to PS that there will be 200,000 male condoms, 10,000 male condoms without latex, 20,000 female condoms, and 10,000 oral dams — all of which are accompanied with a lubricant pouch — available in the Village. (Gulino, 7/23)
Also —
The New York Times: Steven Van De Velde Raped A 12-Year-Old A Decade Ago. Now, He’s At The Olympics
To let him represent the Netherlands at the Paris Games, the Dutch Olympic Committee agreed that Steven van de Velde should stay outside the athletes’ village and not talk with media, who would certainly ask about his prison sentence for raping a 12-year-old girl when he was 19. The Dutch Olympic Committee and Dutch Volleyball Federation declined to make Van de Velde available and to comment to The Athletic beyond a statement that said in part that Van de Velde was included on the team “after careful consideration” and that he had “consistently met” their high standards. (Burrows, 7/25)
The New York Times: Australian Field Hockey Player Amputates Finger To Play In Paris Olympics
After the tip of his ring finger was mangled in a practice match two weeks ago, Matthew Dawson chose amputation over a long, uncertain recovery. (Zhuang and Yoon, 7/25)
