Ensuring Team SA is in peak condition at the Olympics

Mediclinic Milnerton physiotherapist Hugh Everson and his team keep our Olympic athletes at the top of their game.

Flying high with the best

Behind every great athlete, there are great physiotherapists who provide the necessary physical therapy to optimise athletic performance and ability by improving the athlete’s strength, power, agility, coordination and endurance.

Going to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games is work for the Cape Town physiotherapist. Hugh Everson, who has a practice at Mediclinic Milnerton. He is currently in Paris, France as the Chief Physiotherapist to Team South Africa.

“It is always an honour to represent your country. For the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) to have entrusted me to be the Chief Physiotherapist and lead the physio team in Paris is a real privilege for me,” says Everson.

“Our athletes are doing well and, as physiotherapists, we try our best to provide a professional service to support them in achieving their lifelong dreams.”

Representing and supporting Team South Africa

Everson has been on the SA rugby medical team as a physiotherapist for 22 years. He has also worked with the national team, the Springboks, and for the last seven years he has worked with the Springbok Sevens and Team SA.

Everson has supported South Africa internationally on multiple occasions, travelling to the World Games in Taiwan in 2009, the All Africa Games in Brazzaville in 2015, the Rio Olympics in 2016, the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in 2018, the African Games in Morrocco in 2019 and the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Everson was appointed Chief Physiotherapist of Team SA for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022.

Being selected earlier this year as the Chief Physiotherapist for the 2024 Olympics was Everson's next step onto the world stage. Despite his achievements, he is very humble.

Providing critical support to our athletes

At the South African team’s Olympic Village physiotherapy clinic in Paris, Everson is in charge of a team of nine other physiotherapists, many of whom have previously worked on the Team SA medical team. Another Team SA physiotherapist is at the training camp, while the 12^th is almost 16,000 kms away at the surfing venue in Teahupo’o, Tahiti looking after South Africa’s three surfing hopefuls.

Everson and his physio team members are allocated multiple sporting codes, covering the 21 codes that involve the 149 South African athletes. As he is the physiotherapist for the Springbok Sevens team back home, he was allocated rugby as well as equestrian, golf and triathlon.

By the time of writing, five days into the Olympics 2024, Everson’s ‘Blitzboks’ had scooped a bronze medal, alongside a gold and a silver from Team SA’s swimmer Tatjana Smith and a bronze from compatriot Alan Hatherly in the men’s mountain bike cross country.

Providing critical support to our athletes

Everson’s daily routine at the Olympics is intense.  It starts with accompanying the team or athletes for training and before covering two events a day. He also works in the clinic to prepare the athletes for the next day. Here he  prepares supplies and equipment for the next day and catches up with any admin.

“We need to ensure we have recovery facilities on hand, like ice baths, as not all venues supply these,” he says, adding they also need to have a portable physiotherapy bed on hand. “Some of the athletes like to have ice baths throughout the course of the day to reduce inflammation and muscle spasms,” he explains,

“There is a massive gym just across from where we are staying in the Olympic Village, where athletes and staff can do their weight training. Some of my colleagues also doing morning runs around the neighbourhood of Saint-Denis. I, however, do my exercise when I am on the field with the Sevens,” he laughs, adding that, when he is running on the field, he gets up to 28,000 steps. There are also restaurants at the Olympic Village that supply food continuously to feed the active part-time residents!

“There is quite a bit of walking around Paris! We are often so busy with a specific code that we don’t always have time to visit another code,” he says. The rugby stadium is fortunately close to the Olympic Village, but some of the venues are further away, which can take a long time to reach in the traffic despite the official team vehicles that are on hand.

From 1999, Everson ran a physiotherapy practice in Kimberly until 2007 when he relocated to Cape Town and launched his existing practice at Mediclinic Milnerton.