Five physicians from Vail, Colo.-based the Steadman Clinic and Steadman Philippon Research Institute will serve at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
Orthopedic surgeons Randy Viola, MD; Thomas Hackett, MD; Leslie Vidal, MD; and Sonny Gill, MD; as well as internal medicine specialist David Kuppersmith, MD, will provide care as team physicians for U.S. Ski and Snowboard, according to a Feb. 5 news release from The Steadman Clinic.
J. Richard Steadman, MD, founder of the Steadman Clinic, provided medical care to the U.S. Ski Team in 1976. Steadman physicians have served at 13 consecutive Winter Olympic Games.
Here are the physicians’ roles at the upcoming Olympics:
- Dr. Viola will lead care for the men’s alpine team and has served as a U.S. Ski team physician for more than 25 years.
- Dr. Hackett will serve as head team physician for the U.S. Snowboard team for his fifth consecutive Winter Olympic Games.
- Dr. Gill has served as head physician for the U.S. Freestyle Ski team since 2023, and this year will be his first trip to the Winter Olympic Games.
- Dr. Vidal, also making her first Olympic trip, will serve as co-head team physician for the women’s alpine ski team.
- Dr. Kuppersmith will serve as head internal medicine physician for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard teams for the second time.
