Keeping Italy’s athletes fit and healthy
As of 2019, more than 30,000 high-performance Italian athletes had benefitted from the services of the Institute of Sports Medicine and Science (IMSS) since it opened in 1963.
The IMSS was created to build on Italy’s success at the Olympic Games Rome 1960, where its athletes won 36 medals to place third in the medal table. The institute helps the country’s athletes prepare for the Olympic Winter and Summer Games, advises them on injury prevention and assists them with injury rehabilitation. Members of the public can also make use of the institute’s services, which include an outpatient clinic. The IMSS also works with universities in training sports doctors and technicians, and shares detailed scientific insight with Italy’s national sports federations to improve the performance of the country’s high-performance athletes.
The institute’s sports medicine and science departments employ around 100 people. Its internationally renowned experts provide services covering 20 specialist fields, including orthopaedics, neurology, allergology, nutrition and dietary science. They also teach, conduct scientific research, and publish research papers.
The institute’s experts have been at the forefront of some significant developments in sports medicine and science over the years. These include the development of aerodynamic bicycle frames and disc wheels ahead of the Olympic Games Los Angeles 1984, where Italy won gold in the men’s team time trial on bikes that changed the sport forever.