September 2004
DCs named to Olympics medical team
New
Jersey DCs Ira A. Shapiro, of Old Bridge and Marc P. Jaffe, of Summit were
named attending chiropractic physicians for the US Olympic team, a voluntary
position that includes compensation for room, board and travel. It entails
meeting the chiropractic needs of nearly 550 American athletes participating
in the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
Each doctor was
selected from among hundreds of applicants, based on their sports clinical
expertise and the ability to operate smoothly with Olympic athletes,
administrators and other physicians.
Drs. Shapiro and Jaffe
are only the eighth and ninth chiropractors ever chosen by the US Olympic
Committee to officially represent the USA at an Olympic event.
Prior to the 2004
Olympics, the US Olympic Committee had named just one DC to the medical
staff of each summer US Olympic team dating back to 1980. The 2002 Winter
Olympics held in Salt Lake City was the first to have a chiropractor in an
official capacity on the US Olympic team medical staff.
"There is no higher
honor," said Shapiro, director of the Plaza
Chiropractic Center in Old
Bridge for the past 18 years. "We
were selected by our peers and some of the best athletes, trainers and
physicians in the country to represent our nation at one of the most highly
visible events in the world."
Jaffe ‑‑ who has
applied his services through the
Jaffe Chiropractic & Sports Center in
Summit since 1986 ‑‑ added: "Although invisible to the outside world, our
role is to help our Olympic athletes achieve peak athletic performances
throughout the games. Their success will be our greatest reward."
In 2000, the DCs were
among five chiropractors originally chosen by a committee of their peers to
attend a two‑week internship at the US Olympic training center based in
Colorado Springs, Colorado.
After passing this
initial trial, Shapiro and Jaffe were selected by the US Olympic Committee
to support the nation's athletic efforts at several events leading up to the
2004 Olympics. Shapiro worked with nearly 200 American athletes at the 2003
Titan Games held in San Jose, California, while Jaffe worked with more than
150 American athletes at the 2003 Summer World University Games held in
Daegu, South Korea.
Throughout their
careers, Shapiro and Jaffe have served as attending physicians at numerous
international, national and regional sporting events. They are also both
Diplomates of the prestigious American Chiropractic Board of Sports
Physicians (DACBSP).
In addition to holding
chiropractic licenses in New Jersey and New York, Shapiro is a certified EMT,
who over the past 20 years has served as an attending physician at numerous
sports events including the Gatorade Ironman Triathlon World Championship,
World Championship of Free‑Style Wrestling, World Sport Aerobic
Championship, US Figure Skating Championship, National Collegiate Tae Kwan
Do Championship and the Garden State Games.
Jaffe holds
chiropractic licenses in New Jersey and Arizona. In 2003, he was a
consultant for the Rutgers University football team and from 2002‑03 served
as the National Football League Players Association treating chiropractor
for the New York Giants and New York Jets. Since 1988, he has served as an
attending physician at events including the New Jersey Weightlifting
Championships, New Jersey State Tae Kwon Do Championships, United States
Elite Triathlon Championships, Garden State Games Karate Championships,
National Finals Rodeo Championships, New York City Marathon and the East End
ProAM Volleyball Championships.
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