University of Tennessee Athletics
Dr. Petty Again Selected For Olympic Trials
June 07, 2012 | Men's Track
June 7, 2012
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Dr. Michael T. Petty, a team chiropractor for the University of Tennessee Athletics Department, has been selected to serve a third time as a team physician for the U.S. Track & Field Olympic Team Trials. The 2012 Olympic Trials will be held June 22 through July 1 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
Dr. Petty also was selected as a team doctor in 2004 when the U.S. Trials were held in Sacramento, Calif., and again in 2008, when they were contested in Eugene.
Petty received his pre-med training at the University of Tennessee and graduated valedictorian of his class from Life Chiropractic College in 1986. He began his association with the athletics department in 1996 when he began working with the football team by helping Jeff Hall return to his kicking duties after a back injury. Petty has served the football team ever since, including the SEC Championship season of 1997 and the 1998 SEC and BCS National Championship season.
Petty added Tennessee track & field responsibilities in 1999 when he accompanied the Volunteers to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Boise, Idaho. That year then-collegiate-record-holder Tom Pappas captured the NCAA decathlon title.
Petty's association with the track & field team has continued to be fruitful. Since 1999, Petty has worked with several Tennessee individual NCAA champions, including Pappas, Justin Gatlin, Leonard Scott, Gary Kikaya, Stephen Harris, Jabari Greer, Aries Merritt and Rubin Williams. Additionally, Petty has been on site as an integral member of the Tennessee training staff taking care of the Vols as they earned the 2001 outdoor and 2002 indoor national titles. The Vols also claimed SEC Outdoor team titles under Petty's care in 2001, 2002, and 2007. In 2009, Dr. Petty accepted an invitation to complete a two-week medical rotation at the USOC Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif.
Petty is originally from Shelbyville, Tenn. Since graduating from Life Chiropractic College, Petty has been in private practice at Concord Chiropractic Clinic in Farragut. He is married to the former Frances Hanks, his wife of 31 years.
