BEIJING — A Winona native is at the Beijing Olympics as team physician to the U.S. cross-country ski team. It’s special duty for orthopedist Heather Cichanowki. She is io leave as medical director of women’s sports medicine at Tria Orthopedics in the east St. Paul Woodbury. Cichanowki has been at Tria 16 years. Her Olympics connections began 10 years ago when she volunteered as a traveling team physician. She has been with the team to numerous World Cup competitions in Europe. Last May, she was asked to be their head physician.
Finnish finish. At 2017 cross-country competition in Finland.
Verbatim
Cichaniwski: “What’s nice is we have a top-notch sports dietitian and tremendous coaching staff, so my focus is on the medicine part. Even just a small, simple cold can really affect their performance. Right now, it’s about getting good sleep and good eating habits, good advice for all of us. The main goal is to be there for the athletes, be a resource for them, and keep them healthy. There’s a Beijing Organizing Medical Community and a U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee also bringing resources over. Part of my role is, if somebody needs something, to figure out where to go.”
Cichanowski profile
She is a 1991 graduate of Cotter Schools in Winona and a 1995 graduate of Saint Mary’s University. Her love of sports is in her genes. Her father is canoeist Mike Cichanowski. She grew up canoeing and competing in swimming, and biking. At Saint Mary’s she majored in biology. One of her favorite profs, she recalls, was Brother Jerome Rademacher — not only for his classes but fot starting the ski trails that run up the coulees from campus. After graduation, she studied medicine at l at the University of Minnesota. then did a sports medicine at the Hennepin County Medical Center.
Cichanowskis
Michael, father: Founder of Wenonah Canoe, which manufactures high-tech custom canoes for. global market. He competes in the annual 34-mile American Birkebeiner cross-country ski event from Cable to Hayward in northern Wisconsin.
Amy, older sister. A 1992 Saint Mary’s grad. Is executive director of the Minnesota Youth Ski League.
Sports medicine. Her orthopedic specialty.