Olympic trainer shares story

Women's basketball trainer speaks to Pre-PT Society

Amy Paterson / contributing photographer Gina Konin speaks to Pre-PT.

The Pre-Physical Therapy Society hosted its first guest speaker of the year — an olympic trainer — Tuesday.

Gina Konin, the Olympic trainer of the 1996 U.S. women's gold-medal-winning basketball team, shared some of her experiences with students interested in the physical therapy/sports medicine field and showed some of her mementos from the Olympic Games. Konin is the wife of Pre-PT Society sponsor and athletic training associate professor Jeff Konin.

Gina Konin showed a brief video clip that highlighted some of the crucial moments of the Olympic basketball games in Atlanta, Ga. "Being a part of the Olympics had always been a dream of mine," Konin said, "When I visited my brother in Colorado years before, we took a tour of the Olympic Training Center. I remember standing outside next to the Olympic flags thinking, ‘I'm gonna be there some day.'"

After playing college basketball at South Dakota State University, Konin attended the Medical College of Georgia, where she became a licensed physical therapist and certified athletic trainer. In the years that followed, she said she received numerous certifications and underwent a four-year, highly competitive process that led her to the Atlanta Olympics. Three months before the games began, Konin became the official Women's Basketball Olympic trainer.

"Those first two weeks were really intimidating," she said."The 12 over-six-foot women definitely tried to size me up and see what I was all about. I guess the real turning point was when the coach jumped on me for something … at that moment, the two team captains really took me in and made me feel like I was one of them. I became a player on that team."

Konin said her experience with those players, in that atmosphere, was definitely one-of-a-kind. "I could have any ticket to any Olympic event I wanted to go to, but I don't think I ever attended anything else (besides basketball) because I was committed to the 12 players on the team … it was a 24-hour job." She said she even got to march in the opening ceremony.

With the fame came a lot of pressure. "On average, I did about two to three treatments a day. Players would knock on my door at midnight looking for Aspirin. … When you're at that level, you do whatever it takes to get the players ready."

Konin said the experience was worth the stress. "The girls were phenomenal people … very polite and held themselves nicely."

Konin showed the students some of the many valuable things she acquired from the "unstoppable team." Along with three watches, she also received two rings, one with the Olympic rings etched in diamonds and one engraved with the team's 60-0 winning record. A gold basketball with all the women's signatures was also a highlight, along with a "congratulations" letter from former President Bill Clinton.

Junior Liz Rorrer said, "She's awesome … such a role model, especially being a female in this profession." Senior Kandice Minor agreed. "Gina was very informative. The fact that she worked so closely with the players gives me hope for my future."

The Pre-Physical Therapy Society meets once a month and gives an outlook on jobs and graduate school in the field. It recently has expanded its organization to include community service and social events. For more information about the Pre-Physical Therapy Society contact Jeff Konin at koninjg.