Jan Lexell started working with parasport and the Paralympics 15 years ago, and between 2010 and 2018 he was Chief Medical Officer for the Swedish team at the Paralympics in London, Sochi and Rio. Since 2014, he has been a member of the Medical Committee of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the organisation behind the Games.
What is your motivation?
– The Paralympics is not just one of the world's biggest sporting events. It is also a movement that promotes the right of everyone to participate in sport, and where issues of disability and inclusion are central.
– I work with people with neurological injuries and diseases and one of the goals in my clinical work is to support these people so that they can live as good a life as possible despite the limitations caused by the injury or disease. I have always seen sport as an opportunity to build bridges and enable people with disabilities to have a meaningful life. Sport thus becomes a means to well-being.
– Seeing how the Paralympic movement is growing and creating opportunities for people with disabilities, and being involved in developing the field clinically and scientifically is a great privilege.
How did you come to work with the Paralympics?
– I have always been interested in sports medicine and have been working with it in one form or another for 40 years. As a rehabilitation physician, working with sport and physical activity for people with disabilities comes naturally. So, when I had the opportunity to combine my clinical work in rehabilitation medicine with my interest in sports medicine in 2010, I took the chance.
– When I started working with parasport and Paralympic sport 15 years ago, it was quite unknown and there was a great need to develop both the clinical work and the research. I then had the opportunity to build up a new medical organisation in parasport Sweden, and as a professor of rehabilitation medicine I was able to start research projects in parasport and Paralympic sport.
– Meeting colleagues from all over the world who share the same interest and hearing about their work at home makes my work with parasport and Paralympic sport very inspiring.