Dr. Gloria Beim will be the head team physician for Team USA at the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Paris. This will be her fourth time working as a medical provider at the Games. She has also served at four Paralympic Games. Beim is an orthopedic surgeon based in the Gunnison Valley, with offices in Gunnison, Crested Butte, and Telluride.
Beim became a sports medicine doctor during her fellowship while taking care of Kurt Angle, a wrestler who won a gold medal in Atlanta during the 1996 Olympic Games. When Beim moved to Colorado, she became the team doctor for USA Cycling in 1997, a position she held for 15 years.
“I got a taste of treating Olympic athletes. For a sports medicine doctor to treat athletes that are the best in the entire world is quite an honor and quite a thrill,” said Dr. Beim.
USA Cycling wanted Beim to accompany their team to the Olympics, but she was unable to join them as she had not yet been vetted by the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee. Beim first had to volunteer with the U.S. Olympic Training Center while the organization assessed whether she would be a good fit to treat athletes on an international level.
"It's a whole different game when you treat patients outside of the U.S. You have to be able to think on your feet and sometimes pull things out of thin air to make things happen for the athletes," explained Beim. "That's your job—you've got to take care of the athletes. They need to focus on their games."
Beim was invited to her first Olympics in Athens in 2004 as the team doctor for cycling and taekwondo.
“I even got to march in the opening ceremonies. Back then the motto was 'Do one and you're done,' as a doctor. But I was hooked: I wanted to do it again,” Beim said.
In Paris, Beim will be working in the sports medicine clinic in the Athletes' Village.
“Any athlete can come in for treatment of injuries, illnesses, whatever comes up. I'll also be covering different events,” said Beim. “If an athlete ends up in the hospital, I'll go make sure that we navigate the hospital system for them to make it easy and seamless.”
Beim has many memorable moments from the two decades that she has worked as a doctor in the Olympic Games.
"I was covering judo at one Olympic Games—a bronze medal match—and we're at the ring, ready to go in five minutes before the match. The referee that was standing there looked at the athlete’s gi and noticed a little emblem or logo on the gi," said Beim. "This referee said, 'No, you can't wear that gi.' You can't just borrow someone else's gi; it's not going to fit right."
Beim reassured the athlete that they would be able to compete and sprang into action.
"I ran the gi to the back where I had my medical kit, ripped a piece of cloth off my shirt—which was white—and sewed a patch around the emblem as quickly as I could. I ran it back, put it on her, and the referee said, 'Okay,'" Beim said.
The athlete went on to compete and ultimately won.
“I know this sounds like no big deal, but to me, it was the biggest deal ever because I helped this athlete compete. And again, it wasn't medicine. It wasn't like she was injured something. One time, a taekwondo athlete dislocated their shoulder. I popped it back in so they could finish the match and they won,” said Beim.
While the doctor’s priority is taking care of the athletes, Dr. Beim admits she loves watching all the events.
"One of my favorites is equestrian. I used to jump horses and I love horses. If I can sneak out and watch the cross-country event with the equestrians, which is pretty high risk for injury, it would be great. It would probably be nice to have an orthopedic surgeon around anyway," joked Beim.
Maeve Conran with Rocky Mountain Community Radio contributed to this report.
Copyright 2024 KVNF - Mountain Grown Community Radio