Brains And Brawn?
We hear of Oxford graduates soaring to great heights in the worlds of politics, business, and the media, but how often do we consider their success in the sphere of sport? After all, the University so often encourages academic success at the expense of everything else, especially if students are infected with the dreaded rowing bug. If the admissions process wasn't enough to hammer home this point, then three years of weekly tirades from your tutor surely will.
Yet despite the many obstacles that face athletes at university, squeezed as they are between the perpetual essay crisis and drunken college bop, it appears that some have gone on to attain the peaks of sporting success. The Olympics at Sydney this year provided a platform for eleven Oxford graduates to display their talents, five of whom brought back gold.
Stephanie Cook is perhaps the most well-known of these. Having graduated from Lincoln in 1994, she has now embarked upon a medical career in Scotland. During the Games the 28 year-old achieved gold in the first women's modern pentathlon, fighting back from fourteenth place after three events to eighth after four to finally claim first. Cook did not take up the modern pentathlon until the age of 22 and until shortly before her Olympic success was heard to describe the modern pentathlon as "only a hobby". She explained, "This started as a hobby but its become a bit more serious than that over the last couple of years. I've only dared dream that this would happen. I think I might need to sit down and re-assess my life after this".
However, despite all our professors' grumblings, it was in rowing that our graduates really excelled. Andrew Lindsay (BNC, 1996) and Luka Grubor (Somerville, 1996) were part of the men's eight who rowed to victory against the Australian octet, sealing the first British Olympic gold in the regatta's blue-ribband event since 1912. Lindsay, with a first in geography and a gold medal now pocketed, has decided he's had enough of making sacrifices, "Rowing takes over everything. I think I want to play golf, join a rugby club or go sailing and watch my gut grow". He admitted also the emotional cost to his success, "When I joined the crew, probably only two of the guys didn't have girlfriends, now I think its only two that do".
Two of the coxless four were also Oxford graduates. Matthew Pinsent, who left St Catz in 1989 and Tim Foster who left St Cross in 1996 made up half of the crew who claimed gold with record-breaker gold medalist Steve Redgrave. Indeed, it was a third gold in successive games for Pinsent who is known to be the strongest man in the crew.
Britain's only competitor in the weightlifting event was someone who may be a familiar face around Oxford. Thomas Yule, who obtained a MEng degree in 1996 is currently studying for his PhD in Biomechanics yet has found time amongst it all to train as a 105kg weightlifter. The South African born 24 year old began lifting at the age of 12 with his twin brother Stuart who now lifts for Scotland. As a schoolboy, Yule won the British Championships three times as well as claiming bronze at the European Under-16 Championships. Now a senior, he has had much success, winning three silver medals at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1998.
So perhaps intensive work requires an intensive anti-dote on the sportsfield. Or perhaps competing academically hones our minds to compete better in sports. Whatever the reason, Oxford should pay tribute to its sporting legends - they've had to fight against the flow to get there.
26th Oct 2000