By: Katrina Gowases Competing at the Olympics is not necessarily just about an athlete's hard work and dedication. It’s also not about four years of training. Rather, it is about the physical and moral support an athlete requires. One such support area is medical attention. Walvisbay-based physiotherapist Anna-Mart Kruger has been appointed by the NNOC to attend to the needs of the 10 Namibian athletes at this year's Olympic games in Rio. Kruger, who applied through the Namibian physiotherapist board, took up the challenge to be the first official Namibian physiotherapist for an Olympic team. "Not having known what would be the challenges in Rio, I basically brought my whole practice with and I built a nice relationship with the athletes in a short period of time. The athletes now trust me, which makes my work easier for me“. says Kruger. Kruger also explains that it's a special experience, working with the best athletes from Namibia, and meeting phenomenal people. She engages in a variety of methods with the athletes, depending on their sport code. "With Marathon runners, you usually concentrate on their lower legs and back. With the boxers you normally focus a lot on their upper bodies, shoulders, wrists, elbows, do a lot of soft tissue works with them and so forth. With the cyclists, it depends on what they are doing but we mostly focus on their lower quarter issues" she said While in Rio, Kruger is also attending a medical symposium organised for all medical professionals at the Olympics, which is conducted by the International Olympic Committee to increase knowledge on sport injuries and the management thereof. " Of course with all the athletes, I do a lot of things prior to the competition like warming up and stretching. We do dynamic warm ups and prepare them, so they can be ready for the fight or be ready for whatever they are doing. If there's a pain that's irritating or bothering the athletes, I basically take them to my evaluation room and do a thorough orthopedic, functional or neurological evaluation depending on the cause of the injury and the athletes symptoms. From there, we work out a treament plan and address it appropriately for each individual. Although there is a lot of fun at the Olympics, according to Kruger, the Namibian athletes need standard Physiotherapy sessions, contrast baths for recovery, stretches and some miofascial work on the foam rollers- on a day to day basis. Only two Namibian athletes -Cyclist Michelle Voster and Marathon runner Mynhard Kauanivi- are left to compete at the Olympics