When Brianna Murray watched the 2012 Olympics as a chiropractic student, she saw the wrestling matches from a different perspective - are the athletes adjusted? Are their nervous systems open?
This summer, now as a chiropractor, she'll have a direct impact on making sure those athletes are in top shape for the 2016 Olympics.
"I'm on my way down to Rio in August and I'll be traveling with these athletes," Murray said. "We'll be on the sidelines making sure they have everything they need and they're adjusted throughout the whole process."
She's a part of a medical network called Maximized Living, in which she works to provide the highest level in chiropractic training. Murray also sits on a wellness advisory council that helps five Olympic teams and other various professional U.S. sports teams.
She said it was an honor to get the call inviting her to Rio de Janeiro with some of the top doctors in the country.
"To be asked just a few short years later and to know that I'll be traveling with these great doctors, that just felt so great," Murray said.
Murray owns Fountain City Family Chiropractic, just north of Kansas City, where she gives KC families the same care that she does to Olympians.
Patients go through a series of warm-ups to loosen their spine and neck. She can look at X-rays to pinpoint where she needs to make an adjustment. Adjustments involve a lot of loud cracking and popping sounds, but it's crucial to an athlete who puts their body through intense training.
"When we're opening up somebody's nervous system, we know that they're going to be able to breathe better, run faster, heal more quickly. It may even just be microseconds for somebody to be able to win a race, or to have that much of an edge over their opponent," Murray said.
It's the edge she hopes will help athletes win the gold.
Murray will be in Rio for 10 days helping the wrestling, judo and weightlifting teams.
Coverage of the Summer Olympics starts Aug. 5 only on 41 Action News.
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Sarah Plake can be reached at Sarah.Plake@KSHB.com
