“Collaboration across disciplines is more important than ever.”

Innovative treatments

Medical science is changing at a rapid pace. The doctors and physiotherapists who work in the top sports and training programs under the TeamNL flag must stay up to date with their knowledge and skills. Moen: “Top athletes work hard every day to improve. We must do the same.” TeamNL has hired two medical experts who read new scientific publications and write a monthly update for both doctors and physiotherapists.

In addition, NOC*NSF collaborates with universities at home and abroad to gather knowledge through research. For example, a study is currently underway with the University of Amsterdam UMC on the potential of oxygen chambers. Moen: “It turns out that muscle fibres recover better when people spend time in high pressure in an oxygen chamber. We will soon test this with top athletes. The safety of the athletes is of course of utmost importance. This applies to all innovative treatments that can be applied. We are not cowboys.”

New interventions regularly find their way into the rest of society through research into top sports. This is also important for NOC*NSF, says Moen. “As a top sport, we are part of the community. Top sport is about these little things. If it works there, other target groups can benefit too.” He cites two examples he has been involved with recently. “I visited a number of nursing homes because they wanted to know more about our infection prevention campaigns that we do when we go to major tournaments, and in the run-up to the Tokyo Games, we developed cooling vests to keep our athletes cool in hot conditions and we are lending the vests to hospitals.”