ABSTRACT
Throughout the Western world, elite-level athletes rely on sports medicine physicians and allied professionals as integral parts of the team that supports their training and competition. The relationship between athletes and sports medicine professionals strongly developed in the last half of the twentieth century, with the 1960s through the 1980s standing as a significant time period for sports medicine as a specialty, concomitant with major developments in sport in terms of professionalization, commercialization and politicization. Similarly, elite athletes with disabilities expect access to sports medicine professionals, at least at major championships. The relationship between sports medicine and disability sport has grown significantly, albeit in a later period than with mainstream elite sport, mirroring trends in disability sport since the 1980s. 2
