UF Health provides medical help at World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships

Klock stands ready to provide medical treatment at World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships. Photo by Seth Johnson
Andy Klock stands ready to provide medical treatment at World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships.
Photo by Seth Johnson

From the opening ceremonies on March 22 through the last day of competition this Sunday, UF Health has been the medical provider on site for athletes running, jumping and throwing in the World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships (WMAIC). 

UF Health physician and professor Dr. Jason Zaremski is the event’s chief medical officer. He said the championships, with nearly 4,000 athletes from 99 countries ranging in age from 35 to over 100 years of age, have provided a unique opportunity for doctors and physicians with various expertise to come together and serve a global community. 

“This is the first time this event’s been held in the United States, and we can really show what UF Health and UF Health Sports Medicine can do for these world-class athletes,” Zaremski said. “Hopefully, we’re keeping them active and healthy and running and throwing as they need to. If anything should happen, we’ve got experts in sports medicine taking care of them.” 

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Zaremski said medically preparing for the WMAIC started with recruiting the right team from various departments across UF Health.   

The full team includes 14 physicians representing physical medicine and rehabilitation, orthopedics and sports medicine, emergency medicine, community health and family medicine departments, as well as 23 staff athletic trainers and doctoral athletic training students from the UF Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine. Most of the crew are volunteers.  

(Left to right) UF Health's Andy Klock, LeRae Seemann and Jason Zaremski. Photo by Lillian Hamman
Photo by Lillian Hamman (Left to right) UF Health’s Andy Klock, LeRae Seemann and Jason Zaremski.

As a member of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Medical Network, Zaremski said the UF Health team is well-versed in working at events as large and culturally diverse as WMAIC. Zaremski was a doctor for Team USA at the Paris 2024 Olympics and the UF Health team will also be treating multiple athletes preparing for the 2026 Winter Olympics over the next few weeks. 

At the WMAIC, Zaremski said medical staff take shifts from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 2 to 8 p.m. covering both the Alachua County Sports & Events Complex and West End event locations.  

Each shift is stocked with supplies, overseen by lead event organizer Stephen Rodriguez, and includes two to three athletic trainers, one to three physicians and Zaremski himself as a backup at all times. 

With so many moving parts, Zaremski said they know things are going to go wrong and injuries are going to happen. However, emergency action plans prepared in advance and good communication are key for pulling off a successful event.  

“Every night an email goes out to re-remind everybody who’s got what shift and every morning there’s a pre-medical meeting,” he said. “Everyone who’s coming in that day meets, [goes over] who has the radios, who has the automatic external defibrillator, have we introduced ourselves to the [fire] marshals, to the paramedics. If there’s good communication, then things usually run pretty smoothly.” 

Apart from a few muscle injuries and an overheated cross country runner who needed an ice bath, Zaremski said his team hasn’t dealt with any conditions too serious, yet. But the wide range of ages does require an extra layer of discretion.  

Andy Klock is an athletic trainer at the UF Health Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Institute working at WMAIC. He said when medical staff are treating master athletes, they have to consider age-related illnesses and injuries that can’t always be cured with just an ice bag when making their diagnosis. 

Klock said you also have to factor in these athletes’ mental grit, something he said makes WMAIC a “different beast” to work at. 

UF Health's medical station (right) at the World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships. Photo by Lillian Hamman
Photo by Lillian Hamman UF Health’s medical station (right) at the World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships.

“These guys have been doing it for a while,” he said. “They’ve pushed through a lot, they’re a little rougher and tougher, which makes it more challenging because they just want to [say], ‘tape me up, let me go,’ when really they need to just take a second.”  

Language is also a dynamic the medical staff have to navigate at WMAIC. Zaremski said a stat showed around 25% of the 4,000 WMAIC athletes do not speak English or Spanish. One athlete from Thailand had a hamstring injury and physicians used Google Translate to communicate with her.  

Zaremski said it’s differences like that which make coming together through sports at events like WMAIC so special. 

“This is a really cool aspect in sports and sports medicine when you have these international events,” he said. “You bring people together from all over the world and we’re all here for the same goal to keep you happy and healthy.” 

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Shawn Giebner

Great Job medical Team!! Very proud of everyone involved. You represent UF Health well.