Elite Athletes Benefit from Chiropractic

From the May 19, 2006 issue of the Lawrence Journal-World from Lawrence, Kansas comes a story of a chiropractor, Dr. Michael Stuart, who has won the trust of some elite track and field athletes. One in particular is Justin Gatlin, who is the world’s fastest man.  According to the article, Gatlin, tied the world record in the 100-meter dash less than a month after getting his neck, middle back and lower back adjusted by the chiropractor.

Dr. Stuart started caring for Gatlin, Maurice Greene and other top notch athletes during the Kansas Relays. Director of the event, Tim Weaver is the one who facilitated Dr. Stuarts entrance into the event.  Weaver, a former track athlete, had been a patient of Stuart for over a year, stated the importance of chiropractic for these athletes by saying, “These athletes, their body is everything, and getting it to perform at a high level is everything."  He went on to stress how chiropractic helps the athletes perform, "They’ve taken their bodies to extremes and are doing things on the edge of what evolution is meant to do here in 2006. They’re constantly looking for things to keep their bodies moving, and this is another way to keep that engine fine-tuned.”

It was sprinter Maurice Greene who originally requested that Dr. Stuart come help him at the event.  According to the story, it was not long before word started to spread among other professional athletes that a chiropractor was around.

Weaver tells the story, “They liked him so much they brought him back the next day. He’s working on once and future world-record holders, and that’s of great value to the meet. It gives us the added respect, that the Kansas Relays takes better care of superstars than any other meet in the U.S.”

Dr. Michael Stuart, pictured left, with sprinter Justin Gatlin before the Gold Zone II competition at the Kansas Relays.