Spectators see the speed, height, and precision of the skiers in the Olympics, but what they don’t see is the medical care required to keep athletes performing at that level day after day. At the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, that responsibility belongs in part to Jill Radzinski, a University of Richmond alum serving as a medical provider for the U.S. Freestyle Moguls Ski Team.

Radzinski shared details about the past week in Italy while tucked away in a corner in the Olympic Village. The days are long and grueling, but they are exactly what she signed up for.

“We do training in the morning and then go to events, usually in the afternoon or evening,” said Radzinski. “But our team is on call all the time. Last night I got a call from one of our athletes at 1:30 a.m.”

Radzinski works with other medical providers, team doctors, massage therapists, and strength coaches, ensuring that each of the eight athletes in their care is operating at peak performance.

The high intensity of mogul skiing makes it a brutal sport on the knees and back, and Radzinski said they work largely on injury prevention leading up to the Olympics. “So far, knock on wood, we’ve kept things to maintenance only.”

Over the last few days, Radzinski has seen two athletes claim gold and silver, with more competition ahead. Success at the Olympics for her isn’t measured only by podium finishes, but in athletes staying healthy enough to compete when it matters most. In a sport as demanding as moguls, that work is often preventative, collaborative, and unseen.

More than 30 years after her days as a graduate assistant at the University of Richmond in the athletic department, Radzinski finds herself in a role that feels strikingly familiar — on call at all hours, collaborating closely with colleagues, and focused on keeping athletes strong through long, demanding seasons. The stage may be global now, but the work remains rooted in the same principles that shaped her early career.

From rehab to sports medicine

While her journey has been intentional and filled with hard work, Radzinski said she stumbled into sports medicine — quite literally.

“During my undergrad years, I went skiing with my brothers one weekend and tore my ACL,” she said. “I had to do a lot of rehab and PT in the athletic training room back at school, and I found myself thinking, this is kind of cool. I should do this.”

After graduating with a sports medicine degree, Radzinski said she knew a master’s degree would help her advance in her field. She was selected for an opening for a graduate assistant position at the University of Richmond.

“UR offered a master’s in sports management, which was pretty rare at the time,” Radzinski said. “I was in classes with people who wanted to be sports agents and lawyers, and it helped me look at the sports world through a completely different lens.”

While working on her master’s through UR’s School of Professional & Continuing Studies, Radzinski lived in a residence hall with other graduate assistants who became like family. Being at a smaller school also gave her access to mentors and professors who cared deeply about both athletics and the students.

“It was a great collaborative effort and a great learning experience as a young person in the field,” Radzinski said.

Olympic dreams realized

After graduating from UR in 1993, Radzinski was offered a one-year fellowship at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. There, she was exposed to a variety of sports and elite athletes. The fellowship sparked Radzinski's passion for working with Olympic athletes.

“I was always interested in elite sports because I wanted to experience the challenges of working with elite athletes,” said Radzinski. "I felt like there were many opportunities to grow, expand, and become a better professional by working with Olympic athletes.”

After leaving Colorado Springs, Radzinski went on to spend more than 25 years in collegiate athletics, both in Maine and California. But she never forgot about her time with the elite athletes she trained.

While working at the University of California, Davis, Radzinski attended her first Olympics in Vancouver in 2010, where she worked with the U.S. Women’s Hockey Team. She worked with that team again in 2014 in Sochi.

In 2019, Radzinski finally realized her dream of working full-time for the Olympics when she was hired as a medical provider by the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team. She traveled with the halfpipe ski team to Beijing in 2022 before her current gig working with the Freestyle Mogul Ski Team in Milano Cortina.

“My goal was always to work full-time, if I could, in Olympic sport. I just took a long time to get there,” Radzinski said.