February 14, 2002
Massage therapist at Olympic village
| Craig Degginger |
| HS News & Community Relations |
Sylvia Burns, a licensed massage practitioner (LMP) in the Exercise Training Center at Roosevelt, is the UW Medical Center’s “entrant” in the Winter Olympic Games now under way in Salt Lake City.
Sylvia is spending this week at the Games as a volunteer, giving massage treatment to athletes in the Olympic Village and the Olympic Family Hotel.
She joins 258 other massage practitioners from 11 countries on the 2002 Winter Sports Massage Team. Many of these practitioners will also serve athletes at the Paralympic Games that will be held following the Olympics.
“We are very pleased that massage therapists will be part of the Games for the first time,” Sylvia said. “Our professional members in the Utah chapter of the American Massage Therapy Association worked hard to bring this about.”
The massage team will have its hands busy treating athletes during the Games, which continue until Feb. 24.
Sylvia has worked at UW Medical Center for 2-1/2 years as the Exercise Training Center’s massage practitioner, working 10 hours a week. She has been an LMP since 1995, after a teaching career in health and physical education and coaching track, soccer and basketball.
At UWMC-Roosevelt, Sylvia works with patients referred to her by physicians, often for pain resulting from an injury. Although still thought of in some circles as alternative medicine, massage therapy is growing in acceptance and treatments generally are now covered by insurance.
Sylvia was chosen to work at the Winter Games in part because of her involvement with local sports events, including the Goodwill Games, Pacific-10 and Western Athletic Conference swimming championships, national gymnastics championships, professional soccer games and the 2000 Olympic diving trials. She mentors massage students in sports massage at the UW Huskies’ training room.
“I’m really looking forward to working with the Olympic athletes,” Sylvia said. “They are so aware of what’s going on with their bodies, they will be guiding us.”
