Austin physician selected
for Olympic medical staff

TAFP member C. Mark Chassay, M.D., head physician for athletics at the University of Texas at Austin, has been appointed to the United States Olympic Committee medical staff for the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing, China, Aug. 8-24.

“I have always wanted to have a chance to work with the Olympic committee,” Chassay told TexasSports.com, the official website of UT Athletics. “I have always wanted to volunteer my efforts to my country and at the same time challenge myself to perform at a high level.”

Chassay has worked as a team physician at UT since 1996 and became head physician in 2008. He is the co-founder of Texas Sports & Family Medicine, PLLC, where he practices in Austin.

His experience with Olympians began in 2003 when he spent two weeks at the Olympic training center in Chula Vista, Calif. “After that time I decided that I wanted to continue to move on and I have done so by continuing to volunteer for the other events,” Chassay said in the TexasSports.com article. Last year, he served as a medical officer with USA Baseball and USA Karate at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 2005, he served as chief medical officer for the USOC at the Visa Paralympic World Cup.

In the article, Chassay said, “I feel that my work at the Pan Am Games last summer and my job at the University of Texas have more than adequately prepared me for the day-to-day dealings with athletes, coaches and athletic trainers that I will experience at the Olympic level.”