View source for Sakari Orava

{{Infobox medical person
|name                    =Sakari Orava
|image                   =Sakari orava.jpg
|birth_date              =17 June 1945
|birth_place             =[[Kokkola]], [[Finland]]
|profession              =[[Surgeon]]
|specialism              =[[Sports medicine]]
|research_field          =Sports medicine
|known_for               =Surgeon for top athletes
|years_active            =1980 to 2020
|education               =[[University of Oulu]]<ref name="MalagaHealth">{{cite web | url = http://www.malagahealth.com/medical-professional/sakari-orava-m-d | title = Sakari Orava M. D. | date =  | website =  | publisher = Málaga Health | access-date = 2 February 2017 | archive-date = 3 February 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170203160852/http://www.malagahealth.com/medical-professional/sakari-orava-m-d | url-status = live }}</ref>
|work_institutions       =[[Hospital NEO]]
|prizes                  =
|relations               =
}}
'''Yrjö Sakari Orava''' (born 17 June 1945) is a Finnish [[sports medicine]] surgeon, physician, [[orthopedist]], and professor. He retired in 2020.
He attended the medical school at the [[University of Oulu]].<ref name="MalagaHealth"/> Orava had clinics in [[Turku]], [[Rome]] and [[Madrid]].<ref name="Rannikkoseutu"/> He has been dubbed as "[[Gregory House|Dr. House]] of sports",<ref name="Kauppalehti"/> and has performed over 20,000 surgeries throughout his career. Orava was the head physician for the Finnish Olympic team in four consecutive [[Summer Olympics]] between 1988 and 2000.
== High-profile operations ==
Orava's client list includes football clubs [[Real Madrid]], [[Sevilla FC]], [[FC Barcelona]], [[Chelsea FC]] and [[Juventus FC]].<ref name="Kauppalehti"/> Orava has also been working with [[AC Milan]] since 1986, and he performed a successful surgery on footballer [[David Beckham]] at his clinic in Turku in March 2010 to repair his torn [[achilles tendon]].<ref name="BBC">{{cite web|title= Beckham eyes playing return after Achilles surgery|publisher= BBC News|date= 16 March 2010|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/8568689.stm|accessdate= 25 September 2010|archive-date= 12 July 2024|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240712211921/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/8568689.stm|url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=15 March 2010|title=Tämä mies leikkasi David Beckhamin|language=Finnish|publisher=ILTALEHTI|url=https://www.iltalehti.fi/jalkapallo/a/2010031511299237|access-date=12 July 2024|archive-date=12 July 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240712211920/https://www.iltalehti.fi/jalkapallo/a/2010031511299237|url-status=live}}</ref>
Orava has performed surgery on many other top athletes as well, including Emanuela Tessitore (old promise of the italian athletic)  [[Marco van Basten]], [[Haile Gebrselassie]], [[Merlene Ottey]], [[Andrea Barzagli]], [[Paul Pogba]], [[Didier Deschamps]], [[Fábio Coentrão]], [[Pep Guardiola]], and [[Ousmane Dembele]].<ref name="Rannikkoseutu">{{cite news |title= Oravan nahassa |author= Susanne Hiltunen |newspaper= Rannikkoseutu| date= 21 August 2009 | language = Finnish }}</ref> Spanish runner, [[Marta Domínguez]], referred to Orava as ”como díos” – like a God.<ref name="Kauppalehti">{{cite web |title= Beckhamin leikannut suomalaislääkäri "kuin jumala" |publisher= Kauppalehti |date= 16 March 2010 |url= http://www.kauppalehti.fi/5/i/talous/uutiset/etusivu/uutinen.jsp?oid=2010/03/31583 |accessdate= 25 September 2010 |language= Finnish |url-status= dead |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20100531185748/http://www.kauppalehti.fi/5/i/talous/uutiset/etusivu/uutinen.jsp?oid=2010%2F03%2F31583 |archivedate= 31 May 2010 }}</ref>
== Personal life ==
Orava lives in [[Naantali]], Finland, and speaks [[Finnish language|Finnish]], [[Swedish language|Swedish]], [[English language|English]],  [[German language|German]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]] and [[Italian language|Italian]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Sakari Orava M. D. |url=http://www.malagahealth.com/medical-professional/sakari-orava-m-d |website=Málaga Health Foundation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203160852/http://www.malagahealth.com/medical-professional/sakari-orava-m-d |archive-date=February 3, 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> He has a wife, Aira, and two children, Markus and Hanna-Maria. Orava was the 54&nbsp;kg Finnish [[boxing]] champion in 1962.<ref name="Rannikkoseutu"/> During his time off he enjoys painting.
== References ==
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== External links ==
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[[Category:1945 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Finnish surgeons]]
[[Category:University of Oulu alumni]]
{{Finland-bio-stub}}