Women's Health

  • Athlete Healthcare
  • Sports Medicine

The USOPC is committed to supporting the well-being of Team USA athletes throughout their careers. With women representing half of Team USA’s athlete population, the USOPC is focused on the unique challenges and opportunities women athletes may face. In 2022, the USOPC launched the Women’s Health Taskforce, comprised of 16 world-class clinicians, athletes and service providers across various specialties, focus on identifying the needs, developing the resources and solutions, and creating action plans to support the women of Team USA – before, during and after competition. 

Education and Outreach

The taskforce is focused on education and outreach on a variety of topics designed to empower and support female athletes and their support networks. Each month, the taskforce hosts a webinar on women’s health topics open to athletes to learn and ask questions.  

Topics have spanned:

  • Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs) 
  • Trauma/Abuse/Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) 
  • Menses 
  • Pelvic pain/dysfunction 
  • Hormones 
  • Fertility 
  • Pre- and Postnatal care and exercise 
  • Pregnancy  
  • Nutrition 
  • Training guidelines 
The knowledge that is centered around female Olympic athletes and pregnancy is so helpful because there's so much information out there. It's hard to know who to trust and I know I can trust the USOPC.

Athlete participant in women's health webinars.

Women's Health Webinars#

Resources for Athletes

Team USA New Family Fund: #

In 2024, the USOPC introduced the Team USA New Family Fund, a grant designed to support EAHI-eligible Team USA athletes who are new parents.  

Thanks to the incredible generosity of our donors, the Team USA New Family Fund grant can alleviate some of the financial burdens associated with growing a family and assist with expenses such as: 

  •  Postnatal recovery care 

  •  Infant supplies (e.g., diapers, formula) 

  •  Lactation or bottle-feeding support 

  •  Childcare   


Postpartum Playbook: #

To help athletes return to sport following pregnancy, members of the taskforce created a playbook consisting of guidance on strength and conditioning, nutrition, mental health, massage therapy and more. Download the playbook.


Research

The taskforce is also focused on research with the athlete population to identify the key areas of need and develop resources and education through a variety of platforms for the athletes to address current and evolving needs. 

Female Athlete Voice Project:

In 2023, the taskforce supported the Female Athlete Voice project in collaboration with Stanford University, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard University and the University of Washington. Through this work, we conducted a focused athlete survey, which captures the voices and perspectives of 40 Team USA female Olympic and Paralympic athletes, yielding 14 priority topics important to Team USA female athletes. Among the topics were the impact of menstrual cycles on training and performance, the impact of female physiology on recovery processes, mental skills and the effects of specific types of birth control options. 

Read the full research study and findings in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

USOPC Women's Health Taskforce#

Thank you to the 16 individuals dedicating their expertise and time to the USOPC Women’s Health Taskforce.

  • Kathryn Ackerman, MD, MPH, FACSM; Co-chair

    Amber Donaldson, DPT, MPhysio (Manip), SCS, CSCS, FACSM; Co-chair

    Jessica Bartley, PsyD 

    Erika Brown, PA 

    Ellen Casey, MD 

    Cindy Chang, MD 

    Kelsey Dickinson, Olympic Biathlon

    Amanda Fleece 

    Sarah Gibson, Olympic Swimming

  • Lindsay Golich, MSc. 

    Sara Hendershot, Olympic Rowing

    Rikki Keen, MS, RD, CSSD, CSCS

    Emily Kraus, MD 

    Chimson Oleka, MD, FACOG 

    Mallory Weggemann, Paralympic Swimming

    Gail Wetzler, PT, DPT, EDO, BI-D