By Juliet Lock
Over the eleven days of the Commonwealth Games, twenty one chiropractors, the majority FICS members, worked over multiple sites in Birmingham. This was the first time that chiropractors had been part of the Commonwealth Games family and the majority were based at the Game’s polyclinics as part of the COPS Team (Chiropractors, Osteopaths, Physiotherapists and Sports massage).
The polyclinics were located in multiple sites at various sporting venues in order to allow easy access for the athletes and acted as “one stop shops” for diagnostics and treatment for acute injuries and for those athletes wanting a pre performance tune up or post event check up.
There was comprehensive onsite imaging including X-ray, ultrasound and MRI plus an onsite dispensary open from 7am – 11pm in addition to the multidisciplinary team of sports doctors, radiologists, opticians, dentists, pharmacists and of course the COPS team.
As well as working in the polyclinics there were chiropractors working pitchside in a primary triage role with the field of play teams, chiropractors working as sonographers and the British Virgin Islands support team included a chiropractor looking after BVI athletes across multiple sports. The Games were a huge success and the profession was well represented – we are looking forward to Victoria 2026!
