Podiatrist helps launch Olympian beach volleyball athlete

A Queensland podiatrist is helping beach volleyball champion Natalie Cook step up for her chance to win gold at London’s Olympic Games.

Alan McCulloch, the principal at Brisbane’s All Podiatry and The Shoe Co, has treated Natalie for about 10 years and is now working to raise about $5,000 in funds to help send her to London, where she will be the first Australian woman to compete in five summer Olympic Games.

“I will be getting up through the night to watch Nat play. I won’t miss seeing her play,” he said.

“Her major problem has been her knees, with a bit of a knee injury in the past. That’s the thing that plays on her mind most and is the most important thing for her is that her knee is looked after.

“Because she’s in the sand a lot with all of that movement, she really works her joints in her feet a lot as well as the intrinsic muscles in her feet.”

Alan, a podiatrist of more than 20 years, has worked extensively with elite athletes from the Australian Cricket Team to the Brisbane Lions, Brisbane Broncos, Queensland Bulls and the women’s QAS cycling and soccer club, and triathlon organisations.

He has also contributed to footwear design for Adidas and spent four years as a technical consultant in Asia and Europe for the leading footwear manufacturer.

With his wife Caroline, also a podiatrist