Digital Debut

Left: David Weinstein, MD, (front row, second from left) with the Milan Cortina US Olympic medical team.

Right: David Weinstein, MD, with Snoop Dogg at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

Supporting Team USA

Former ASCA Board member shares his experience working with Olympic athletes

INTERVIEWED BY SAHELY MUKERJI | MARCH 4, 2026

David Weinstein, MD

David Weinstein, MD, former ASCA Board member and consultant at Surgical Center of the Rockies, recently returned from Milan Cortina, Italy, where he accompanied Team USA for the 2026 Winter Olympics, February 6-22, as part of the Olympic medical team. Weinstein served on the ASCA Board from 2020 to 2026. ASC Focus caught up with him about his experiences at the games.

Q: When was the first time you started working with Team USA?

David Weinstein (DW): I have had the opportunity and privilege to be an orthopedic sports medicine consultant for the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) Training Center since 1995. The center is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where I currently practice as an orthopedic surgeon at the Orthopedic Centers of Colorado – Colorado Center of Orthopedic Excellence. I have been in this role taking care of athletes and working for Team USA for more than 30 years now. There are a number of athletes who live and train at the USOPC Training Center, as well as a number of athletes who live and train elsewhere and come to the Colorado Springs center for training camps with their teams. Other athletes come individually for training, and still others come specifically for medical care and recovery. Through this process I have had the opportunity to care for multiple athletes on Team USA and provide international medical coverage for USA Basketball, USA Volleyball and USA Wrestling.

Q: How many Olympics have you worked?

DW: My first Olympics were back in 2000, in Sydney. The Milan Cortina Olympics are my 10th Olympic Paralympic Games.

Q: Is there a typical day at the Olympics for a team physician?

DW: Every day at the Olympics is different. We have a large number of Team USA medical providers who work the different sports and between the multiple venues. This requires a significant amount of coordination. At the Milan Cortina Games, the events were in many geographically separate locations. The days just prior to the start of competition require setting up our clinics, visiting venues and local supporting hospitals, developing emergency medical plans, and establishing relationships with the local organizing committee’s medical teams. Once the athletes arrive the fun and rewarding part of providing medical care begins. There is an unpredictability to each day as we know injuries and illnesses will occur but not exactly when or what type. Generally, I am available 24 hours a day, but fortunately, at the Milan Cortina Games, we did not have a lot of middle-of-the-night emergencies.

Q: Did you treat Lindsey Vonn at the Milan Cortina Games?

DW: I cannot comment on any specific athlete’s injury but can say that when anyone on Team USA is injured, the full resources of Team USA are prepared and engaged to provide world-class care for every athlete on the team.

Q: Please share your favorite anecdotes from the Milan Cortina Games.

DW: The non-medical fun part of the games included being in the hockey arena where the atmosphere was so intense when both the women’s and men’s hockey teams won gold medals, both beating Canada in overtime. My family also had the opportunity to come out for part of the games, and we all took a cooking class making ravioli and tiramisu.

Q: How does it feel to be able to support our country’s star athletes?

DW: The most satisfying part of the games is supporting the athletes to compete at their best. For every high-profile athlete, there are many more athletes at the games for whom this will be the biggest and maybe only opportunity to be in the spotlight. It is extremely fulfilling when you can help someone who has worked so hard to achieve their goals and truly perform at their healthiest level. I think this self-satisfaction to be part of the team behind Team USA makes it worth the time commitment it takes to continue to provide medical care for Team USA.