Britain’s newly crowned Olympic hero, Bradley Wiggins, went to a Church of England school in Kilburn, which does not count a velodrome among its PE facilities. Like many children in London, he had to trek across the capital to train.
The man he replaced as the country’s greatest medal winner, Sir Steve Redgrave, was also state-educated although Great Marlow School does have its boat club as well as the advantage of being right next to the Thames.
Despite their achievements, overall it is still believed that too many of our best athletes went to fee-paying schools.
The latest to make the argument was Lord Moynihan, the chairman of the British Olympic Association, who said it was “wholly unacceptable” one of the “worst statistics” in sport that 50 per cent of Team GB medallists in Beijing came from the independent sector. All but 7 per cent of children go to state schools.
Even the Eton-educated Prime Minister, David Cameron, said last month that independent schools produce “more than their fair share” of medal winners.
Read the full article on The Telegraph
