Sakari Orava
| Sakari Orava | |
|---|---|
| File:Sakari orava.jpg | |
| Born | 17 June 1945 Kokkola, Finland |
| Education | University of Oulu |
| Years active | 1980 to present |
| Known for | Surgeon for top athletes |
| Medical career | |
| Profession | Surgeon |
| Institutions | Hospital NEO |
| Specialism | Sports medicine |
| Research | Sports medicine |
Sakari Orava (born 17 June 1945) is a Finnish sports medicine surgeon, physician, orthopedist, and professor.
Orava has clinics in Turku, Rome and Madrid.[1] He has been dubbed as "Dr. House of sports",[2] and has performed over 20,000 surgeries throughout his career. Orava was the head physician for the Finnish Olympic team in four consecutive Summer Olympics between 1988 and 2000.
High-profile operations
Orava's client list includes football clubs Real Madrid, Sevilla FC, FC Barcelona, Chelsea FC and Juventus.[2] Orava has also been working with AC Milan since 1986, and he performed a successful surgery on footballer David Beckham at his clinic in Turku in March 2010 to repair his torn achilles tendon.[3][4]
Orava has performed surgery on many other top athletes as well, including Haile Gebreselassie, Merlene Ottey, Andrea Barzagli, Didier Deschamps and Josep Guardiola.[1] Spanish runner, Marta Domínguez, referred to Orava as ”como díos” – like a God.[2]
Personal life
Orava lives in Naantali, Finland, and speaks Finnish, Swedish, English and German. He has a wife, Aira, and two children, Markus and Hanna-Maria. Orava was the 54 kg Finnish boxing champion in 1962.[1] During his time off he enjoys painting.
References
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