Dr Marie-Elaine Grant

Marie-Elaine Grant, Ireland’s Olympic Team Lead Physiotherapist from 1992 to 2010, is a graduate of University College Dublin. She is a Specialist Member of the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists and an Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Sports and Exercise Medicine, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Marie-Elaine was appointed as a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Health, Medicine, and Science – Medical Expert Group, in 2011 and in 2022 to the European Olympic Committee (EOC) Medical and Anti-doping Commission. She has worked with many of Ireland’s Olympic athletes, serving as Lead Physiotherapist to the Irish Olympic Team for five consecutive Summer Olympic Games, starting with Barcelona 1992 and continuing through Beijing 2008. In this role, she planned and implemented strategies for injury prevention and the provision of sports physiotherapy and injury rehabilitation services for high-performance athletes. In her role, to the IOC – Medical Expert Group she is responsible for monitoring the preparations and provision of physiotherapy and physical therapy services on behalf of the IOC for both Summer and Winter Olympic Games. Her work has included physiotherapy service protocols, multidisciplinary athlete-care frameworks, injury surveillance, electronic medical record systems, athlete health reporting and strategic recommendations informing the planning and delivery of Games time physiotherapy services. In this role on behalf of the IOC she has overseen these services at the past four Summer and three Winter Olympic Games, though to the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games. Marie-Elaine was awarded a PhD by research and thesis in 1997. She has peer-reviewed publications related to sports injuries and physiotherapy topics and is regularly invited to present at international conferences. Education and the development of future generations of sports physiotherapists have remained central to her work. She remains actively involved in clinical practice, based in Dublin, and continues her role in the education and training of undergraduate and postgraduate physiotherapists. Marie-Elaine regularly contributes to and advises on professional development programs for students and peers. She has contributed extensively as an invited lecturer and speaker at international sports medicine and physiotherapy conferences. Her career has spanned from  the direct care of Olympic athletes,  to active membership of international medical commissions, policy development, research, education and Olympic Games planning, she has consistently worked to ensure that physiotherapy has an appropriate voice wherever decisions affecting athlete health, safety and performance are made.