An Olympic rower, clinician-scientist and sports medicine physician, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry professor Dr. Jane Thornton has been named as the new International Olympic Committee (IOC) medical and scientific director beginning Sept. 1, 2024.
In this role, she will manage the IOC medical and scientific department’s strategic initiatives and will foster engagement on behalf of the IOC in the areas of medicine and science.
Thornton is a Canada Research Chair whose work focuses on long-term athlete health, female athlete health and physical activity in the prevention and treatment of chronic disease. With deep roots at Western, she is cross appointed in epidemiology and biostatistics, family medicine and kinesiology. Thornton also completed her PhD, fellowship and residency at the university. She is the incoming president of the Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine and editor of the British Journal of Sport and Exercise Medicine.
A veteran Western Mustangs varsity rower, Thornton represented Canada at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and also held medical and research roles at Athens 2004, Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016.
Thornton will maintain her academic appointment with Western and Schulich Medicine & Dentistry as well as her research and education connections to the university as she joins the IOC.
She shared aspirations for the new role in an interview with Western News.
Western News: As an Olympian and someone who has remained involved in the Olympics over the years, how does it feel to be officially joining the IOC?
Jane Thornton: Competing at the Olympics is a great honour, not just in representing Canada, but in the platform it provides for athletes hoping to turn their success in sport into something meaningful for society. My greatest joy in taking on this new role is that I can support athlete health through excellence in research, policy and practice on a global scale.
What are your hopes for the role?
JT: My overall vision is to build a healthier world through sport. Managing athlete health at the Olympics is a central element of the role, but sport, physical activity and health go hand in hand well beyond the Games. The ultimate goal of Olympism, the philosophy underpinning the Olympic Movement, is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind. From a medical and scientific standpoint, this means increasing our understanding of the intersections of sport and social determinants of health, tying in with other existing frameworks like the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the World Health Organization’s Global Action Plan on Physical Activity.
How has your time at Western prepared you to join the IOC?
JT: I was fortunate to have been introduced to sport and exercise medicine in my undergraduate years by Dr. Connie Lebrun, who was the national rowing team physician and primary care director at the Fowler Kennedy Sport Medicine Clinic at the time, along with Dr. Peter Fowler himself, who let me shadow him in the operating room and always encouraged my career. Returning to Western as a resident, fellow and faculty member has allowed me to follow their example and develop my own capabilities as a leader committed to building people up to bring their best to individual or team efforts.
You will manage the IOC medical and scientific department’s strategic initiatives. That’s a massive undertaking; can you share the top priorities?
JT: The IOC’s strategic document Agenda 2020+5 lays out five themes and 15 recommendations forming the main direction for key priorities in all departments including medical and scientific. From these, a big part of my role will be building on the good work already underway in improving care for athletes’ physical and mental health as well as strengthening safeguarding frameworks. Strengthening global research networks is another top priority and working to ensure the policy and practice reflect the global diversity that exists within the Olympic movement.
