Lower the bar, says Olympian

TALENTED young sports people should be given the chance to go to university, even if their exam results are lower than expected, former athlete-turned-commentator Steve Cram has said.
By The Newsroom
Published 15th Mar 2013, 00:01 BST

The Olympian suggested that UK universities should be offering more sports scholarships.

In an interview with the Times Higher Education magazine, Mr Cram said the UK had caught up with the US in terms of the sports facilities at its universities.

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The chancellor of Sunderland University added: “Where we maybe haven’t caught up in the education sector is in accepting that there is nothing wrong with having a good sports programme.”

Many US institutions recruit top students because of their sporting reputations, said Cram, adding: “I think we should be offering more, we should be able to offer sports scholarships and yes, bend over a little bit if someone isn’t quite, if the exams, the results, aren’t quite what we want them to be.”

Cram, who won the silver medal in the 1,500m in Los Angeles in 1984, added that if these students “might have a chance of going to the Olympic Games in the rowing team or the athletics team, then help them out”.