Mark Lavallee Honored as USAW Director Emeritus of Sports Medicine, Alex Hu Stepping into Director Role

COLORADO SPRINGS - After 28 years of service to USA Weightlifting, Dr. Mark Lavallee is transitioning to Director Emeritus of Sports Medicine from his previous Director of Sports Medicine role. This honor recognizes Lavallee’s tireless and dedicated service to the sport of weightlifting and thousands of USA Weightlifting athletes. Lavallee provided sports medicine service at international, national, and local meets, and he built a deep and talented group of volunteer medical professionals who contribute their time to assist USAW. Stepping in as the new Director of Sports Medicine is Dr. Alex Hu, a Los Angeles native who began working with USAW in 2020 and served as USAW’s team physician at the Paris Olympic Games.

“We are grateful to Dr. Lavallee for his decades of service to our sport and our athletes, and excited to continue working with Dr. Hu in his newly elevated role,” said Matt Sicchio, President and CEO of USA Weightlifting. “Both men represent the strength of the team behind the team that is so critical to our success.”

Lavallee first started volunteering with USAW in 1997, and he began organizing the sports medicine team for domestic events in 2002. He became the head doctor in 2008 and organized medical teams for both domestic and international events. By 2016, Lavallee was serving on both the Pan American Weightlifting Federation (PAWF) Medical Committee and the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Medical Committee. He served at all four Pan American Games from 2011-2023, and assisted with test events for the Rio and Tokyo Olympic Games. In 2022, he was elected to the USA Weightlifting Hall of Fame for 25 years-worth of contributions to the sports medicine team. At Paris 2024, he was selected to be one of the IWF’s chief medical officers on duty overseeing the venue, which he views as one of the highlights of his career.

“Mark Lavallee has been instrumental to the organization of the national network of sports medicine volunteers that contribute to USA Weightlifting,” USAW Director of Events and Sponsorships Pedro Meloni said. “For the past decade, our medical team has provided care to thousands and thousands of athletes at USAW national and international events. Dr. Lavallee has been an instrumental pillar of our team and community.”

“I like the emeritus role because I feel like I'm here to help Matt, Pedro, and Dr. Alex with whatever they need, but I also still have those roles on the IWF and PAWF Medical Committee,” Lavallee said. “I wanted someone else to bring some new life in while I can still mentor them and be there as a resource, and it was just perfect timing. Alex is from L.A. and the Olympics are going to be in L.A., so it makes sense that our lead doctor should be in the town. It's going to be extra special for him to be the Director of Sports Medicine for a sport he loves.”

Lavallee started strength training in college and opened up two gyms that helped pay his way through Penn State University’s medical school. A few years after graduation in 1994, he became connected with Dragomir Cioroslan who was USA Weightlifting’s head national coach at the time. Their relationship blossomed and Lavallee began volunteering at USAW national events under Mike Reed, the head of USAW’s sports medicine program. In 2008, Reed became the head doctor of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and Lavallee took over as USAW’s head doctor.

Over the years, Lavallee has grown his network to over 150 volunteers who have served on the medical team for USAW at national and international events. He was recently re-elected to another four-year term as the United States’ representative to the IWF Medical Committee, and remains on the PAWF Medical Committee. While serving in those roles, Lavallee will continue to be a resource to Dr. Hu as he takes over as the Director of Sports Medicine.

“Over the course of 28 years, Dr. Lavallee has volunteered an amazing amount of his time to USA Weightlifting,” said USAW Senior Director of Sport Performance Mike Gattone. “He brought a continuity of medical coverage to our national events that we never had before by bringing doctors, athletic trainers and physical therapists to cover national events. That's been invaluable. He also became very involved with assigning medical personnel to international trips, and that was a really big step in professionalism. There was a time when there wasn't a medical professional traveling overseas with our athletes. Mark brought that to life. He built this network of volunteers from around the country that he would ask to give their time and talents to go on these international competitions.”

“Dr. Lavallee has been a mentor to me and has crafted my time with USAW to ensure that I have the knowledge and skills to be successful in this new role,” Dr. Hu said of his relationship with Lavallee. “In a lot of ways, he is like the metaphorical father for how sports medicine is done with USAW, and I hope to continue that in his honor.”

“I'm really excited that Dr. Hu, who I've been mentoring for the last five years, is going to step up and take the Director of Sports Medicine responsibility on,” Lavallee said. “I know Alex is going to take it to the next level. He just has that personality. He's smart, and as humble as a day is long.”