Tales From Turino

By Sage Campione, D.C.

I want to take a few moments to share some of my experiences from the Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, February 2006. I would also like to tell you how honored I felt representing Chiropractic in front of a world arena.

In English we refer to it as “Turin”, but people in and from Europe refer to it as “Torino”.  It’s an exquisite city and one exploding with charm and character. Everything you can imagine is within reach and eyesight. From the breathtaking mountains that line the horizon, to the many Piazzas (“great buildings”) peppered throughout the town - everything has a story or whispers of some kind of historical significance.

My adventure really began well before I stepped foot in Italy. It started with a chain of emails exchanged between myself and five other chiropractors from various parts of the world. We introduced ourselves virtually and diligently worked together to coordinate our accommodations and our schedules. We wanted to make sure that we all felt secure and helped each other map out our travel plans, so that when we actually arrived in Italy we could focus on more important things.

The day I arrived, I met with the man who graciously rented me his apartment for my 3-week stay. Lucky for me, he was also an excellent guide and he gave me a quick overview of the city so that I would know where everything was in relation to my temporary home away from home, and how long it would take me to get from point to point. My apartment was a short five walking blocks to the park called Parco De Valentino, where we all ventured to and from every day for work. The Armida Rowing Club, where we actually worked was situated inside the park and is a famous center in Torino that was founded in the mid 1800’s for rowing athletes. It served as a central hub for all the events and it was absolutely gorgeous. Visa donated over $800,000 to the center to renovate and prepare it for the Olympics. They didn’t miss one detail.  Thoughtfully, they even fully stocked the center with an abundance of food, wine, champagne and coffee. This was a very good thing because the Armida Rowing Club also served as the central meeting center for the world’s dignitaries visiting Torino for the games and festivities !

Every day was a new adventure. One afternoon, Prince Albert of Monaco and other world representatives gathered for a luncheon to discuss future tourism and Olympic business. The World Olympian staff was extremely warm and friendly and they welcomed our chiropractic team with open arms. They went above and beyond to try to accommodate our needs, even though I found out that they were receiving some challenges and mixed-messages from the Visa management staff about who was priority and who was not. The World Olympian staff made sure we were taken care of first. I met all kinds of phenomenal Olympic athletes, from both the present and past games. Positive energy was constantly buzzing around us and we were always poised to look our very best. When we weren’t treating someone, we kept our eyes focused on the doors because we knew that at any moment ANYONE from anywhere in the world just might walk through them and we were going to be ready to greet them and give them our best.  An Ortho Physician from Atlanta, GA was always nearby and he represented the Dekalb Training center. Another interesting thing about working in the center was that I had to be ready for a photo shoot at a moment’s notice. Someone was always snapping pictures in an effort to document and support future Olympics. Not to mention, that The Today Show aired every day from the Piazza San Carlo between 1-3 PM and I was able to get on camera more than once!

Security was a constant issue and taken very seriously for many reasons, mostly because of many high profile athletes milling around.  We wore a picture ID at all times, which allowed us entrance to the Armida Club. I always felt safe and secure.

A medals presentation ceremony took place every evening, followed by fireworks that lit up the night. Every medals ceremony concluded with a concert by some gifted and well-known performer.  Some of the big names that I remember were: Bocelli, Ricky Martin, Anastasia and Whitney Houston, just to name a few. There were, however, many others.     

While I thoroughly cherished working at the club and treating the athletes, I also appreciated and valued my days off. I took advantage of my time off in every way I could. I went to every museum I could find and in the evenings I enjoyed as many theater performances as I could possibly fit into my schedule. Overall, I found every little detail about my trip to Torino rewarding and captivating, from the delicious food and exquisite wines, to the excitement generated by the Olympic competitions. Most importantly I was proud of the contribution I made by providing excellent chiropractic care to anyone who needed me. The energy in Torino was intoxicating and something I will never forget.