Sport and Health

Sport and Health is the story of the birth and development of a new medical speciality; sport and exercise medicine, its struggles against resistance to gain recognition and its fight for survival and integration in the NHS. Its growth with major sporting events and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and its role in drug testing and gender disparity issues.

This is not simply a record of historical events but a celebration of the people who fought to establish it and the difficulties they overcame with personal, institutional and political rivalry.

It covers the formation of the British Association of Sports Medicine, other organisations and institutes, and since recognition as a specialty, the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine.

Sport and Health is a summary of the documented evidence, Graham’s personal reflections, and the memories of some of its senior forefathers. Most importantly it emphasises the important roles played by many dedicated practitioners who gave their time, energy, and enthusiasm, freely, in support of this new specialty.