Press ENTER to search

Michael Johnson delivers keynote speech at Bupa’s Healthcare Symposium

Olympic and world-champion sprinter, Michael Johnson, delivers powerful keynote speech at Bupa’s Healthcare Symposium

  • Four-time Olympic gold medallist, eight-time world champion, track and field pundit, and stroke survivor, Michael Johnson, was the keynote speaker at Bupa’s annual Healthcare Symposium on Tuesday 15th October
  • In his speech, Michael shed light on his remarkable recovery from a shock stroke in 2018, crediting preventative healthcare measures
  • Bupa Healthcare Symposium brought together industry leaders to explore digital health and the latest innovations in healthcare

London - 15 October, 2024: Olympic and World Champion sprinter and CEO of Grand Slam Track, Michael Johnson, delivered a powerful keynote speech at Bupa’s annual Healthcare Symposium this morning, shedding light on his remarkable stroke recovery and the potential for digital healthcare to transform health outcomes.

The four-time Olympic gold medallist and eight-time world champion – widely regarded as one of the greatest sprinters of all time – recounted his remarkable recovery from a shock stroke in 2018 which left him unable to walk to an audience of over 1,000 healthcare professionals this morning.

Crediting his astonishing two-month recovery to his strong underlying physical health, Michael lauded the benefits of preventative healthcare measures to future-proof ourselves against serious health issues.

He said: “Seven years ago, when I was fifty years old, I had a stroke. I was doing all of the right things – I was fit and healthy, I had no family history, never smoked and I was even in the gym the day I had the stroke. And this is why fundamentals matter - understanding my body, being in tune with my body, helped me quickly know that something was wrong and the best thing to do was to get to the hospital.”

Michael also shared just how big of a challenge it was to embark on the process of recovery and the physical and mental fortitude it took to recover in just two months.

He said: “When I first started my physiotherapy, it took me 10 minutes to walk 200m. That distance used to take me 19 seconds. It was then that I knew my recovery was going to require the same Olympic mindset and I would need to focus on the fundamentals.”

Having dominated his field in the 1990s, Michael also applauded new digital innovations that look set to transform future healthcare outcomes, not just for athletes, but the world at large.

He said: “Being able to rely on technology and other people was key to my recovery. My doctor was in Texas, and I was in California so being able to rely on remote access to them enabled me to stay on top of my health, on top of my mindset and mental wellbeing and move on from that horrible experience and live my health”.

Held in London, Bupa’s Healthcare Symposium 2024 theme for 2024 was ‘Unboxing Digital Health’ and welcomed attendees comprising of the world’s biggest global public and private healthcare providers, funders, innovative disruptors, employers, governments, regulators, and NGOs.

Aimed at exploring challenges and opportunities in digital healthcare, the Symposium also saw a number of talks and sessions from leaders in the field, including:

  • A panel discussion on what is coming next for remote care with Tara Donnelly, Digital Care, Maneesh Goyal, The Mayo Clinic Platform, Dr. Iain Hennessey, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, and Dr. Rachna Gandhi, Ramsay Health Care Australia
  • Professor Sir Peter Donnelly, Genomics plc, on The Role of Genomics in Obesity
  • Roy Schoenberg M.D, Amwell on virtual consultations and what’s next
  • Many more speakers you can read about here

About Bupa

Established in 1947, Bupa's purpose is helping people live longer, healthier, happier lives and making a better world. We are an international healthcare company serving over 50 million customers worldwide. With no shareholders, we reinvest profits into providing more and better healthcare for the benefit of current and future customers. Bupa has businesses around the world, principally in the UK, Australia, Spain, Chile, Poland, New Zealand, Hong Kong SAR, Türkiye, Brazil, Mexico and India. We also have associate businesses in Saudi Arabia.

About Blua

Blua is digital health by Bupa and is accessed through the Bupa app. It provides 6.8m customers in over 180 countries access to three lifechanging healthcare innovations that offer Bupa care, when and where it’s need it. Those innovations are:

  1. Virtual appointments with a doctor
    Speak to a doctor, nurse or specialist, by video call or phone. Whenever works for you.
  2. Online health programmes
    Healthcare and wellbeing plans delivered digitally to help you stay well, or get well.
  3. Remote healthcare
    Access medicines, equipment and health monitoring at home without needing to visit a hospital or clinic.