Aussie Tomkins in Turin illness scare

[DB]

http://www.smh.com.au/news/Sport/Aus...284091270.html

Aussie Tomkins in Turin illness scare
</HEADLINE>
Three-time Olympic gold medal rower James Tomkins is hoping to be released from hospital after being admitted with pneumonia.
The 40-year-old, who is acting as Athlete Liaison Officer with the Australian Winter Olympics team, coughed up blood in his room at Bardonecchia early on Tuesday morning.

Tomkins, who was too weak to get out of bed, called team doctor Peter Braun who was assisted by his room mate, physiotherapist Peter Hogg, and eventually taken to a hospital in the Italian Alps.

A CT scan revealed he had pneumonia but he has since responded well to anti-biotics and has returned to the Bardonecchia facility.
Braun said he was "quite worried" about Tomkins when he initially attended to him.

"Over the last 24 hours he has really come good and he is just saying `get me out of here'," Braun said.

An on-going flu and the effects of altitude were said to be the cause of Tomkins' condition.

[DB]

Re: Aussie Tomkins in Turin illness scare

You do not cough up blood in the morning then get checked into a hospital, then get given anti-biotics and recover all in the same day from pneumonia.

Anti biotics do NOT work that fast.

The reason this article is in Breaking News is because Italy has confirmed cases of Bird Flu. Before Febuary every country that has had cases in birds have had cases in humans.

[DB]

Re: Aussie Tomkins in Turin illness scare

What does altitude have to do with causing him to cough up blood?

[Mod Classic Black]

Norway plagued in Torino

Norway plagued in Torino
15 Feb 2006

High hopes for a golden medal harvest for Norway at the Winter Olympics in Torino have instead turned to a remarkable series of reports of illness and injury.

With the games not yet at the halfway mark, 12 of Norway's 74 participants has been so ill or injured that they have had to either miss an event or return home. On Wednesday Norway had to pull out of the Nordic Combined team event after four of their five candidates fell ill.

Magnus Moan failed to dress properly, preferring to speak to journalists in sub-freezing temperatures after winning a bronze medal on Saturday.

"Magnus and Petter Tande are now the sickest, but also Ole Morten Gr&#230;sli and Kristian Hammer are also ill. Only H&#229;vard Klemetsen is healthy," said physician Lars Engebretsen about the decimated Nordic combined team.

Engebretsen said that he should have intervened on Saturday and asked Moan to dress warmly after his medal-winning performance. The doctor said that illness always hits some athletes at major events.

"But it is unusual that there are so many and it is unusual that a whole group that has medal potential is hit," Engebretsen said.

Major medal hope Marit Bj&#248;rgen has been unable to compete in her cross-country disciplines. Her stomach problems have been shared by other Norwegian athletes, but respiratory infections, throat infections and just fierce colds have hobbled others.

Another ill gold medal hope, cross-country skier Frode Estil, was isolated from teammates on Wednesday due to illness, but was reportedly training as usual.

http://www.aftenposten.no/english/sp...cle1224806.ece

[Mod Classic Black]

Neumannova ill, to decide on 30km cross-country on Friday

Neumannova ill, to decide on 30km cross-country on Friday

PRAGELATO, Italy, Feb 23 (CTK) - Czech skier Katerina Neumannova's participation in the cross-country 30km race tomorrow, that was to be the last Olympic competition in her career, is threatened by flu, her physiotherapist Pavel Kolar told CTK today.

He added that the final decision will only be made shortly before the race starts in Pragelato at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow.

Server iDnes.cz reported today that Neumannova showed the first signs of respiratory problems on Wednesday evening.

Neumannova won the silver medal in the women's 15 km pursuit race on February 12.

"It does not seem that she should not take part in the race, but her participation is threatened. We shall see how it will develop overnight," Kolar told CTK.

"We have started to administer vitamins and she got calcium. We cannot do more before the race," manager Josef Jindra said in the Czech Olympic House in Briancon.

Neumannova, 33, winner of three silver and one bronze medals from Nagano in 1998 and Salt Lake City in 2002, plus the silver at the current Olmypics, would like to win a gold medal at her sixth and last Olympics.
Neumannova, mother of a two and half years old daughter, said previously she would not compete in the next Olympics.

http://www.praguemonitor.com/ctk/?id=20060223E05764

[Mod Classic Black]

Torin Koos - respiratory problem

[Photo caption:] U.S. cross country skier Torin Koos looks during an interview with The Associated Press, on the terrace of his hotel in Sestriere, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2006. Koos was unable to take part in the men's Cross Country Team Sprint competition because of a respiratory problem, but is planning to be ready for the individual sprint scheduled next Feb. 22. The U.S team failed to reach the final in the Team Sprint after after a seventh-place finish in the second semifinal.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...021500428.html

[Mod Classic Black]

Clare-Louise Brumley - virus &amp; breathing problems - arrived in Turin sick

http://www.smh.com.au/news/Sport/Aus...284091270.html

Aussie Tomkins in Turin illness scare
</HEADLINE>
Three-time Olympic gold medal rower James Tomkins is hoping to be released from hospital after being admitted with pneumonia.
The 40-year-old, who is acting as Athlete Liaison Officer with the Australian Winter Olympics team, coughed up blood in his room at Bardonecchia early on Tuesday morning.

Tomkins, who was too weak to get out of bed, called team doctor Peter Braun who was assisted by his room mate, physiotherapist Peter Hogg, and eventually taken to a hospital in the Italian Alps.

A CT scan revealed he had pneumonia but he has since responded well to anti-biotics and has returned to the Bardonecchia facility.
Braun said he was "quite worried" about Tomkins when he initially attended to him.

"Over the last 24 hours he has really come good and he is just saying `get me out of here'," Braun said.

An on-going flu and the effects of altitude were said to be the cause of Tomkins' condition.

One of the other Aussies arrived in Turin with a virus that caused her respiratory problems -- could have passed it on to her team-mate:

Meltdown fires Emily's engine
By FIONA HUDSON
25feb06

(snip)

Meanwhile, a virus and breathing problems forced Victorian Winter Olympian Clare-Louise Brumley out of last night's 30km cross-country freestyle event.

The 28-year-old withdrew before the start on the advice of Australian team doctor Peter Braun, after being unable to train for even 15 minutes without respiratory difficulties.

The skier had arrived in Turin with a virus, and had been unwell since, Dr Braun said.

"Clare-Louise suffers from asthma and she knew her participation in the cross-country would make it worse," Dr Braun said.

http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au...E12428,00.html

[DB]

Re: Aussie Tomkins in Turin illness scare

"Clare-Louise suffers from asthma and she knew her participation in the cross-country would make it worse," Dr Braun said.

These are Olympians not first time skiers.

I wonder if we can get stats for the past Olympics and find out how many Olympians have had to pull out from sickness in the past. Then we should compare those numbers to the current numbers and see if there is a spike.

If I was a betting man, I would say that this year we are seeing something very out of the ordinary.

[Sally Furniss]

Re: Aussie Tomkins in Turin illness scare

Feb 23, 10:17 AM EST
Austria's Hoffmann Out of 50km Ski Race
<!-- BEGIN MEDIA BOX NUMBER 1 --> <!-- END MEDIA BOX NUMBER 1 --> SESTRIERE, Italy (AP) -- Austrian cross-country skier Christian Hoffmann won't compete in Sunday's final Olympic race, the 50km event, because of pneumonia.
Hoffmann, who won the 30km race at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, did not compete at the Turin Games.
"He will not ski because he is ill and has pneumonia," said Raimund Fabi, press coordinator for the Austrian National Olympic Committee. "He's back in Austria and had his last test today."
Hoffmann's withdrawal was the latest blow for an Austrian team mired in a doping scandal. Six Austrian cross-country skiers and four biathletes were taken for out-of-competition drug tests last weekend at the same time that Italian police raided the residence of disgraced coach Walter Mayer.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OLY_XXC_AUSTRIA_HOFFMANN_TR1?SITE=NJASB&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-02-23-10-17-31

[Mod Classic Black]

Re: Aussie Tomkins in Turin illness scare

I wonder if we can get stats for the past Olympics and find out how many Olympians have had to pull out from sickness in the past. Then we should compare those numbers to the current numbers and see if there is a spike.

If I was a betting man, I would say that this year we are seeing something very out of the ordinary.

Yeah -- the only way to be sure something strange is(was) going on would be to check out previous Olympic Games, like you say.

I thought it was interesting that the Norwegian team's doctor felt that their team had an unusual number of illnesses:

The doctor said that illness always hits some athletes at major events.

"But it is unusual that there are so many and it is unusual that a whole group that has medal potential is hit," Engebretsen said.