Olympic Excellence: Moray House's highlights
As the Olympic torch is dimmed following the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, we take pride in the connections Moray House School of Education and Sport has to this year’s Olympic Games. Before the games began, we marked memorable occasions and published and promoted academic research in the field of Olympic.
Celebration
Professor Dr Grant Jarvie, Director of the Academy of Sport, hosted a ceremony marking 100 years since Eric Liddell brought home the gold in the 1924 Paris Olympic Games. On the 25 July 2024, Liddell was celebrated with a posthumous honorary degree, accepted by his daughter, Patricia Liddell Russell.
Dr Jarvie and Yujun Xu also published a report ahead of the 2024 Summer Games that focused on how the Olympic movement can have cultural and political influence within society.
Paris Olympic Games and Paralympic Games 2024
Research
Dr Debbie Palmer is a Moray House Lecturer and the co-director of the UK Collaborating Centre on Injury and Illness Prevention in Sport (UKCCIIS), a recognised International Olympic Committee (IOC) Research Centre. Dr Palmer led UKCCIIS’s inaugural international conference, which was held in July and was a great success. The conference welcomed speakers from across health and sports sectors, focusing on sports injury and illness prevention - the perfect warm-up to the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
Dr Palmer et al. were recently published in the British Medical Journal. Their paper discusses a 15-year research study surrounding a cohort of current Olympians, their Olympic careers, and retirement.
As a three-time Winter Olympian in short-track speed skating, Dr Palmer has over 16 years of expertise in sport injury and illness prevention.
Palmer was among the 14 staff and students from the University of Edinburgh who travelled to Paris for the Summer Games, collecting data from each of the teams’ medical doctors, as well as the Paris organising committee medical clinics, on all injuries and illnesses that occur in the athletes during the games. This builds on previous research conducted during the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
Education
Dr Jung Woo Lee and Dr Louis Nolte, co-directors of the Scottish Centre of Olympic Research and Education (SCORE), also a member of the IOC network, celebrated SCORE’s first anniversary in June this year.
Since SCORE was founded in 2023, it has held numerous lectures and workshops and received recognition through awards, maintaining its dedication to Olympic education and research.
Dr Lee also appeared in a live interview for France 24 during the Olympic Games, discussing the politics and sustainability of Paris 2024.
Athletic achievements
Medallists Oli Wilkes and Aleksandra Kalucka delivered outstanding performances, with Oli excelling in the men’s fours rowing and Aleksandra in sport climbing.
Colin Williamson, Head of Performance Rowing, recognised Oli’s talent during his University years, which played a key role in his development to the GB level. Oli is now a crucial member of the successful men’s fours team.
Incoming sport scholar Aleksandra Kalucka wowed fans in sport climbing, a discipline where athletes scaled a 15-meter wall in just over 6 seconds.
Grace Reid (3m Springboard) and Megan Keith (10,000m) were among the University cohort competing against the world’s best in their event finals.
Grace, a current Applied Sports Science student, advanced to the semi-finals after finishing 5th in the prelims and secured 10th place in a highly competitive final.
Fellow Sports Science student Megan Keith made a memorable Olympic debut following her winning medal in the 10,000m race at the European Championships earlier in the season.
We are incredibly proud of our peers and students who participated in this year’s Summer Olympic Games, inspiring us with their performances and commitment to research, and for bringing two bronze medals home to Edinburgh. Their achievements highlight the sporting excellence Moray House is dedicated to. We look forward to cheering on and celebrating the Paralympians from the 28th of August!