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Turner weeks away from Olympic experience

Local chiropractor Jenn Turner will have the best seat in the house to watch cycling at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
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Jenn Turner is all smiles as she looks forward to the London 2012 Summer Olympics that start in just 50 days.

For jet-setting Chilliwack chiropractor Jenn Turner, it often seems she spends more time on airplanes than on the ground.

But such is life when you’re involved with Olympic athletes.

Turner works with the Canadian Cycling Association, helping keep this country’s top cyclists healthy as they prepare for athletic events.

Turner travels frequently to Los Angeles, where many of the cyclists live and train year round.

She’s spent a lot of time in London lately, familiarizing herself with the site of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Turner visited the UK in early April, and got a sneak peek at the brand new track that will be used at the Games.

She joined the Canadian National Track Cycling team as they competed in a World Cup event.

She was back in late May for the BMX World Championships.

“For the Canadian team, that World Cup was our big event,” Turner said. “Zach Bell (2008 Canadian Olympian) had a disappointing elimination race, but excelled in another five events to win silver. He finished seventh at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and he’s hoping to do very well in London. Tara Whitten, a two-time world champion in women’s omnium, finished fourth, missing the podium for the first time in her career.”

The Canadian women’s team pursuit broke a world record, but had to settle for silver behind an even better performance from Great Britain.

Turner, the owner of Chilliwack’s Optimum Sport Performance and Health Centre, was track-side for it all, sporting an ear-to-ear grin.

“I travel to many World Cups and World Championships, but the London World Cup was different,” she said. “The stakes seemed higher. The atmosphere seemed more exciting and the track was fresh, new and unused. Security was a lot tighter than normal, and we were surrounded by half-completed and completed Olympic venues.”

Turner is doing a residency in chiropractic sport sciences and specializes in ‘active release technique.’

“It’s a soft tissue technique that helps break up adhesions and scar tissue that forms in the muscles, tendons, ligaments and fascia due to trauma or overuse,” she explained. “I also use Graston technique, modalities and exercise prescription as part of my treatment plans.”

Turner has worked with the Canadian Cycling Association since 2007, primarily in track cycling but more recently with BMX as well.

“The travel is definitely a challenge at times, but being at World Cup races allows me to see my athletes train and race, and fully understand the mechanics that are required to make a successful cycling track athlete,” she said. “Combining these trips with sessions at my clinics,  I am able to better monitor their progress and build subsequent treatments. This allows me to make a bigger difference as I focus on both injury prevention and performance enhancement.”

The travel has also allowed Turner to create an expanding network of sports medicine contacts.

“I’ve been able to connect with therapists of other teams and understand some of the other techniques that they have found successful, and I feel I’m on the cutting edge of different techniques,” she said. “I’ve befriended the chiropractor and physiotherapists for the New Zealand team, the osteopath for the Germans, the naturopath that works with France and the Danish athletic trainer/acupuncturist. These connections are of tremendous benefit to my practice and the way I assess and treat athletes.”

Turner will be utilizing her skills on the biggest sporting stage in just 50 days.

She can’t wait.

“I hope that this will be the first of many games in my chiropractic career,” she said.

Get info on Turner’s Chilliwack clinic online at optimumclinic.ca.

Get info on Canada’s national cycling program at canadian-cycling.com and get info on the 2012 London Oympics at london2012.com.