Olympic hopeful Richard Buck is used to juggling not only the baton but also his studies and sporting life. Currently in his second year at Leeds Carnegie studying full-time for a BSC in Sports Coaching, Richard’s athletic training amounts to 20-30 hours per week, with at least 12 hours contact time with his Leeds tutor.
Although Richard admits occasionally his academic work might take a back seat to his demanding training schedule, he still believes the combination of both is manageable and necessary.
“Education not only arms you academically but teaches you to articulate your views and how to successfully deal with the outside world. It can help you gain a wider comprehension of politics, networking and not least, an understanding of the media, which can be important in any sporting career.”
With 18 months study ahead of him, Richard hopes his career highlight will be the 2012 Olympic Games. A semi-finalist in the recent World Indoor Championships, he believes gaining an education is not only important for when your career is over, but also for throughout your sporting life.
“In an ideal world I would love sport to be my entire life, but as a contingency plan for the future an education is invaluable.”
