Sakari Orava

Yrjö Sakari Orava, born on 17 June 1945, is a Finnish sports medicine surgeon, physician, orthopedist and professor who retired in 2020. He studied medicine at the University of Oulu and ran clinics in Turku, Rome and Madrid. Over his career he performed more than 20,000 operations and was nicknamed the Dr. House of sports. He served as head physician of the Finnish Olympic team at four consecutive Summer Olympics from 1988 to 2000. His patients have included footballers and athletes at major clubs such as Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Chelsea, Juventus and AC Milan, which he has worked with since 1986. In March 2010 he repaired the torn Achilles tendon of David Beckham at his clinic in Turku. Outside medicine he was Finnish boxing champion at 54 kilograms in 1962, speaks six languages, lives in Naantali and enjoys painting.