An Olympic education

This edition of Learning World looks at how young athletes balance dedication to their sport with getting a good education? Is it possible to succeed at both?

Russia: discipline and training

The Central Sports Club for the Army of Moscow is one of Russia’s most prestigious sporting schools. Discipline is strict and the training is tough. Keeping up is challenging, especially as sporting hopefuls have to stay on top of their education.

Ali Sherif is one of 70 students of CSKA boarding school. Only best of the best get here. Ali was invited to leave his hometown in the Russian North Caucasus and train in Moscow.

For the young wrestler, his sports career is the only thing on his mind.

USA: student athletes

What about studying and training in the same establishment? Some universities in the USA offer athletes an opportunity to get a good degree whilst pursuing a professional sporting career. We look at how that works out for goalkeeper David Andre in our report.

David left his home in Rennes, France, and headed to the USA to college soccer at St. Louis University while working towards a top level business degree, something that’s almost impossible to achieve.

David and his fellow freshmen are playing at a high level – ranked most of the season in the top 20 and even top 10 schools in the nation. They’re also top learners – with a 3.0 grade average on a 4 point scale.

Hungary: school and pool

If you think it would be impossible to win Olympic medals and European championships – not just once but repeatedly – and still get a good education, then think again.

Laszlo Cseh, five-time Olympic medalist and 27-time European champion swimmer, spent much more time in the pool: in his senior classes he trained as much as five hours a day.

Besides his hard training agenda, Laszlo still managed to get to university.

Meanwhile, Levente Kassai (10) is from Budapest. He goes swimming training after school two or three times a week. He’s learned to co-ordinate his schedule well. He has to do all his studies in the school’s daycare centre, because when he comes home in the evening he’s too exhausted to learn.

We’re looking forward to hearing about your sporting and educational experiences.

If you, your children, or someone you know has benefited from a similar education experience, please share that with us on our social media pages.