Andrea Ferretti
Chief Medical Officer, Italian Olympic Team; Medical Director, Institute of Sports Medicine and Science (IMSS), Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI)
A distinguished orthopaedic surgeon who brings the perspective of an elite athlete to his medical practice, Andrea Ferretti competed as a volleyball player and coach, winning Italian National Championships in 1975 and 1977. Full Professor of Orthopaedics at University La Sapienza in Rome, Professor Ferretti served as Chief Medical Officer of the CONI Institute of Sports Medicine and Science, contributing his expertise across four Olympic Games. His extensive experience as Team Physician for the Italian National Football Team spans multiple World Cups and European Championships, including Euro 2020, where Italy claimed the European title. A prolific researcher and thought leader in sports medicine, Professor Ferretti has authored or co-authored over 400 papers published in international journals, with the majority focused on sports injury diagnosis and treatment. His unique combination of competitive athletic experience, clinical excellence, and scholarly contribution has positioned him as one of Europe’s most respected voices in orthopaedic sports medicine.
Bernd Wolfarth
Chief Medical Officer, German Olympic Team; Chair, Medical Expert Committee, German Olympic Sports Federation (DOSB) &Katharina Blume – Medical Officer, German Olympic Team; Consultant Cardiologist, Internist & Sports Medicine Physician, German, DOSB
Prof. Dr. Bernd Wolfarth is chair and head physician for Sports medicine at the Humboldt University and Charité University Medicine, Berlin, Germany. He is specialized in internal medicine and sports medicine. After his medical studies in Freiburg, he continued his medical education as a specialist for internal medicine at the University Hospital in Freiburg. In October 2003 he moved to the Technical University Munich and worked there as deputy chief and leading senior physician at the Department for Preventive and Rehabilitative Sports medicine. His scientific interest is focusing on genetics, performance and trainability. He was post-doc for one year in Prof. Bouchards lab in Quebec/Canada and had thereafter a couple of visits in the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge/USA. Resulting from this collaboration he published more than 50 international original and review articles in the field of molecular genetics and sports medicine. Beside his clinical work he is involved in teaching medical students and sports-science students in Prevention, Rehabilitation and Sports medicine at the Humboldt-University in Berlin. In applied sports medicine Dr. Wolfarth serves as the head physician of the German ski association and is physician for the German biathlon and cross-country team since several years. For the FIFA world-cup 2006 he was responsible as the organizing head physician at the venue in Munich. At the Olympics 2002, 2006 and 2008 he worked as physician with the German Olympic team. Since 2010 he is head physician of the German NOC for the German Olympic Team. In 2011 he was elected as the chair of the medical expert committee of the German Olympic Sport Federation. Since 2010 he was in charge as the head physican for the German NOC in Vancouver 2010, London 2012, Sotschi 2014, Rio 2016,Pyeongchang 2018, Tokyo 2020ne, Beijing 2022, Paris 2024, Milano/Cortina 2026.
Carla Edwards
Mental Health Lead, IOC Medical Experts Group, Member Milano-Cortina 2026, IOC Health, Medicine & Science, International Olympic Committee
Dr. Edwards is an internationally accomplished Sports Psychiatrist with extensive experience in program development, advocacy, publication, and management of athlete mental health and wellness. Her international work focuses on collaboration with global organizations to advance knowledge and management of mental health conditions of athletes and improve the sport environment. Her clinical practice focuses on youth, collegiate, elite and professional athletes. Based in Canada, she works with several universities and professional teams and is a consultant for the National Hockey League, National Basketball Association, and National Lacrosse League. She is the current president of the International Society for Sports Psychiatry, the Secretary-Treasurer of the Canadian Academy of Sports and Exercise Medicine, and the mental health lead for the Medical Experts Group of the IOC Health, Medical and Science Commission. Her areas of expertise include safeguarding, risk assessment, and mental health-related removal from and return to sport.
Eloise Matthews
Chief Medical Officer, New Zealand Olympic Team; Founding Director, Pinnacle Sports Physicians, Christchurch, New Zealand
Dr. Eloise Matthews is a specialist Sport and Exercise Physician and the founding director of Pinnacle Sports Physicians in Christchurch New Zealand and is the Christchurch medical officer for High Performance Sport New Zealand. Eloise feels privileged to have been the medical lead for the NZ Youth Winter Olympic Team in Gangwon 2024 and have this opportunity to follow a number of those youth athletes through to Milano Cortina Games. She has extensive experience in elite sport including Netball, Football and Adventure Racing. She holds multiple governance roles serving as a member of the NZ Sport Integrity Commission TUE Committee, RESS ICP knee clinical governance board and is the current chair of the ACSEP Interview and Selection Committee. Outside of work Eloise enjoys spending time with her husband and 3 children and stays active trail running, mountain biking, swimming, and spends her winters skiing and snowboarding.
Gloria Viseras
Senior Manager – Safeguarding, IOC Health, Medicine & Science, International Olympic Committee
Gloria Viseras joined the IOC Safe Sport Unit in the Medical and Scientific Department in September 2022 as Senior Project Manager coming from FIFA where she was the Senior Event Safeguarding Manager. At 15 she was the Artistic Gymnastics National Champion and one of the only 9 women who represented Spain in the Moscow Olympic Games in 1980. Over a decade, she has been a strong advocate for safe sport and working at national and international levels to support persons with lived experiences and help organizations implement safeguarding good practices that foster safe and supportive sporting environments for all participants, especially young athletes. In Spain, in addition to her extensive awareness raising work and the continuous support to athletes with lived experiences, she coauthored the safeguarding policy and procedures currently implemented by the Spanish High Council for Sport and of mandatory implementation by all National Sports Federations. At international level, she has extensively collaborated with the Council of Europe, the European Commission and other international organisations on different projects, conferences and activities. At the IOC she is leading on the implementation of safeguarding measures and embedding safeguarding across the lifecycle of the Olympic, contributing to the development of educational materials for stakeholders across the Olympic Movement and supporting sports organisations in the development and implementation of safeguarding policies and procedures.
Jane Thornton
Director, IOC Health, Medicine & Science, International Olympic Committee
Dr. Jane Thornton is Director of Health, Medicine and Science at the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland. She is a Sport and Exercise Medicine physician, Honourary Professor at the Moray House School of Education and Sport at the University of Edinburgh, and Associate Professor in the Departments of Family Medicine, Epidemiology & Biostatistics and Kinesiology at Western University in London, Canada.
Dr. Thornton is past President of the Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine, and former senior editor of the British Journal of Sports Medicine. She is a World Champion and Olympian in the sport of rowing.
As IOC Director, her mandate is to protect and promote athlete health and build a healthier world through sport.
Katharina Blume
Consultant Cardiologist, Internist and Sports Medicine Physician, German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB)
Katharina Blume is a consultant cardiologist, internist, and sports medicine physician with extensive experience in elite and Olympic sport. She has been involved in the medical care of the German National Biathlon Team since 2015 and has supported athletes across multiple disciplines at major international events.
For the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, she is appointed by the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB/NOC) and will be responsible for the central medical operations in Milan, alongside Bernd Wolfarth, Chief Medical Officer. Her previous Olympic and multisport experience includes the Summer Olympic Games Paris 2024, the Youth Olympic Games Gangwon 2024, and the World Games 2022 and 2025.
Dr Blume holds both the IOC Diploma in Sports Medicine and the IOC Diploma in Sports Nutrition. Her clinical and scientific focus lies in infection prevention in elite sport, athlete resilience and load tolerance, and sports cardiology, with particular expertise in cardiovascular screening, performance-related cardiac adaptations, and return-to-play decision-making.
She combines full-time clinical cardiology practice with hands-on field experience in high-performance sport, aiming to optimize athlete health and performance in complex international competition settings.
Maarit Valtonen
Chief Medical Officer, Finland Olympic Team; Medical Director, Finnish Institute of High Performance Sport (KIHU)
Maarit Valtonen. MD, Associate Professor. is the Chief Medical Officer at Finnish Institute of High Performance Sport KIHU and Finnish Olympic Committee. As a specialist in sports and exercise medicine, she develops and promotes the management of athlete health care and the medical expertise in Olympic Training Centers and Sports Academies in Finland. For the past 8 years, she has intensively focused clinical research to respiratory infections in athletes, collecting data on Olympic and professional athletes during training season and major competitions. She and her multidisciplinary research team have published over 10 articles in the complicated issue of respiratory infectious disease in sport environment. Dr Valtonen is an active member of IOC Consensus group of acute respiratory illness in athletes and aims to enhance athlete health by contributing to better understanding on respiratory infections in sports medicine.
Markku Tuominen
IF Medical Officer, International Ice Hockey Federation
Markku Tuominen is a distinguished Finnish sports physician and a central figure in international ice hockey
medicine. In 2024, he was honored as the 280th member of the Finnish Ice Hockey Hall of Fame
for his lifelong work to promote player safety.
After graduating from the University of Tampere, Tuominen founded Medisport Oy in 1984. He
continues as a chief physician of Medisport Oy. He spent decades as the team physician for Ilves in
the Finnish League and has been a staple of the Finnish National Team staff.
His influence extends globally through the IIHF Medical Committee, where he has served since
2003. He has overseen medical operations for numerous World Championships and the Olympics
Winter Games. A respected researcher, Tuominen earned his PhD in 2017, specializing in ice
hockey injury prevention and concussion protocols. He has been a CMO of the Finnish ice hockey
association and response of the antidoping work in ice hockey. He has also been many years part of
the Finnish League’s disciplinary committee.
Matthias Gilgien
Associate Professor Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Norwegian Alpine Ski Team, Alpine Health and Innovation Foundation
Matthias Gilgien is a sport scientist whose work focuses on the quantitative analysis of human movement and the development and application of technology-driven methods to study performance and safety in real-world sport environments. His research sits at the intersection of biomechanics, performance analytics, safety engineering, and sensor-based measurement, with a particular emphasis on winter sports. Central to his work is the use of wearable sensors, GNSS-based tracking, and data-driven modeling to capture athlete behavior in complex, dynamic settings that cannot be reproduced in laboratory conditions.
Gilgien works across several applied fields. In performance analytics, he is part of the Norwegian Alpine Ski Team and other national teams in Norway to quantify the effects of technique, tactical decisions, and interaction with terrain on performance at elite level. In safety engineering, his research addresses injury risk factors in freeski and snowboard, spanning both elite and recreational contexts. In parallel, he is deeply involved in technology innovation, validation, and translation, supporting the development of sport technologies from concept to real-world application.
A defining feature of his approach is that research questions originate directly from practice. He develops methods specifically designed to answer these questions in situ, in close collaboration with stakeholders such as sport organizations and the technology industry. Through this work, Gilgien aims to bridge sport, academia, and industry, fostering efficient and sustainable collaborations that address the real performance and safety challenges faced by modern sport.
Mihkel Mardna
Chief Medical Officer, Estonian Olympic Team
A leading figure in Estonian sports medicine and orthopaedics, Mihkel Mardna maintains a private practice at Confido Medical Centre’s department of orthopaedics while serving as chairman of the Estonian Sports Medicine Foundation. Since 2008, he has held the position of Chief Medical Officer for Team Estonia, overseeing the health and performance of the nation’s elite athletes. His international involvement with ISAKOS (International Society of Arthroscopy, Knee Surgery and Orthopaedic Sports Medicine) spans over two decades, beginning as an Associate member in 2001 and advancing to Active membership in 2002. He has contributed to multiple ISAKOS committees, including Arthroscopy (2013-2015), Sports Medicine (2017-2021), and currently serves on the Leg, Ankle & Foot Committee (2021-present).
Domestically, Mihkel Mardna has shaped the field through leadership roles in the Estonian Arthroscopy and Sports Traumatology Society (EASTS), serving as President from 2016-2021 and continuing as Past President. He also serves on the board of the Estonian Sports Medicine Federation and, since 2022, has led the Estonian Rowing Federation as President, combining his medical expertise with a commitment to advancing Estonian sport at all levels.
Roald Bahr
Senior Scientific Advisor, IOC Health, Medicine & Science, International Olympic Committee
Roald Bahr MD PhD is a Professor of Sports Medicine in the Department of Sports Medicine at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences and the Chair of the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center. He is also a Senior Advisor – Research & Education in the Health, Medicine & Science Department of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), as well as the Director of the Aspetar Sports Injury & Illness Prevention Programme. He is a Consultant Physician in the Medical Department at the National Olympic Training Center (Olympiatoppen).
Bahr is authorized as a Sports Medicine Physician by the Norwegian Society of Sports Medicine and is a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine. He serves as Team Physician for the Norwegian beach volleyball national teams. He is past Chief Medical Officer for Olympiatoppen and past chair of the Medical Department at the National Olympic Training Center, past chair of the National Council on Physical Activity, past president of the Norwegian Society of Sports Medicine and past president, secretary and member of the FIVB Medical Commission. He chaired the IOC Medical Commission-Games Group for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
His main research area is sports injury prevention, and he has published more than 450 original research articles, review papers and book chapters, in addition to several books, with a citation index (H-index) of 138. He is the main editor of the widely acclaimed textbook “IOC Manual of Sports Injuries”, which is published in seven languages, as well as the “IOC Handbook of Sports Injury Prevention”.
Scott Sloan
Senior Project Manager - Mental Health, IOC Health, Medicine & Science, International Olympic Committee
Scott has over 15 years of experience in sport, mental health, and international development. He is currently the Senior Project Manager for Mental Health at the International Olympic Committee in Switzerland, where he has worked since 2022. Scott led the team culminating in the IOC’s Mental Health Action Plan, the IOC’s strategic roadmap on the topic. Previously, he founded and led School of Hard Knocks South Africa, an award winning sport-for-development organization serving over 3000 South African youth. He has worked across South Africa, Zambia, and the USA in various nonprofit and development roles. He holds a Master of Science in International Development from Lund University and a BA in History and Politics from Queen’s University Belfast.
Torbjørn Soligard
Scientific Manager, IOC Health, Medicine & Science, International Olympic Committee
Torbjørn Soligard works as Scientific Manager in the Health, Medicine and Science department of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland, where his focus is research and education on the protection of athletes’ health. He completed his PhD at the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center in 2011, where his fields of research were prevention and risk factor analysis of injuries in football and included the design and first randomized controlled trial of the 11+ injury prevention program. As part of his role in the IOC he has since led the consensus statement on load in sport and risk of injury, and the epidemiological studies of athlete health problems in the Olympic Games.