When Kip Petch went to the 1976 Montreal Olympics as an athletic therapy student, he never dreamed it would be the start of an Olympic run spanning more than 35 years.
“My first one in Montreal in ’76, I was just a student and I got the opportunity to work at the Montreal Olympics and that was just amazing at that age to think that I had that chance,” he said. “And at the time I thought that’d be the one and only I’d ever get to do so I took full advantage and loved every second of that, as any 19-year-old would.”
Petch has volunteered at four more summer and winter Olympic Games since then, including Calgary in 1988, Torino in 2006, Beijing in 2008 and Vancouver in 2010. He has also worked with athletes at international events like the Pan Am and Commonwealth Games and professional sports teams like the Oilers and Eskimos. This week, Petch departed for his sixth Olympic games in London.
He will be one of two massage therapists available each day to provide treatments to Canada’s athletes at the Canadian Medical/Therapy Clinic located in the athletes’ village in London.
Petch has owned a massage therapy clinic, the Active Life Centre, in St. Albert for more than 25 years.
Working with the athletes is what Petch loves most about volunteering at the Olympics. He enjoys seeing the familiar faces of athletes that he has met and treated over the years and said they are very appreciative of the services the health team provides.
“They know we’ve been handpicked for this role and they know we’re volunteering and they’re very appreciative of what we do for them.”
Petch says that in the athletes’ village, the majority of athletes he treats come from sports that don’t have a dedicated massage therapist, or teams that have more demand than their therapists can handle. At the Beijing Olympics four years ago, he was administering 18 treatments in an average day.
“Massage is always in high demand, for sure,” Petch said. “So we know, when you’ve been selected, you’re going to be working hard.”
At the London Games, Petch will only be treating members of the Canadian team, but he has had different roles over the years.
“With the winter Olympics in Torino I was with the bobsleigh team so I was one of those therapists that just really just worked with my 13 athletes … you’re right there at the hill watching them get ready and running down and watching the actual event, so you’re really involved in every run your team did.”
At the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Petch was part of the host medical team, which meant treating athletes from any and all countries as opposed to solely Canadian athletes or a Canadian team. “There was just an amazing atmosphere in Vancouver, that’s for sure.”
He enjoyed the experience but prefers working with our national athletes.
“I mean it is neat to be working on this female speed skater from Denmark and then a Georgian athlete a couple hours later and then a French figure skater or something,” said Petch. “So it’s good, but I’d prefer to be working with a Canadian team whenever possible.”
Petch is looking forward to returning to the Canadian clinic when he volunteers in London to support our national athletes in their quest to be the best. It’s what keeps the veteran massage therapist coming back.
“To have an athlete come in and after they’ve done really well, whether they’ve won a medal or not, but they’ve come back and they’ve thanked you, or they’ve put their medal around your neck for a few seconds, it makes you feel really special that you could have helped them in some way.”
