During the IPL cricket match I watched yesterday, the commentators spoke to Dr Daniel Harris who was wearing a microphone on the field for the Deccan Chargers. When not playing cricket he is a hospital doctor and I thought that this was pretty unusual. I can’t think of very many sports stars with a science background.
The Boat Race had an interesting contrast, with practically all the Oxford crew studying science in one form or another, and most of the Cambridge crew studying non-science subjects. Science was still the majority occupation across the two boats. Because science degrees involve so much time in the laboratory, I always assume that people who have had to dedicate their lives to some other activity would be studying an arts subject, because the reading and other study could be more easily fitted around their training schedule.
Jonathan Edwards, the gold medal winning former British triple jumper read physics at Durham University, Arthur Smith who captained Scotland rugby union team in 1960 had a PhD in mathematics, W.G.Grace was a qualified doctor… I am really struggling here. Can you think of any sporting stars with significant science credentials? If you can, post them in the comments below. There must be some!
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