Callum actually took the decision to take a year out from his studies in order to concentrate on full-time training for the Games. However he has been keen to thank the University for its support through the Individual Performance Programme, which supports student athletes who are committed to succeeding at the highest level.

Edinburgh University topped the university Olympic medals chart in London last summer, beating all other British universities, including Nottingham which came second.

Famous Edinburgh sporting alumni include Sir Chris Hoy. Already an Olympic success after Bejing in 2008, furthered his achievement by winning gold in both the Team Pursuit event and in the Keirin event. He is now the most successful British Olympian in history holding six gold medals and one silver medal. Sir Chris studied sport science at Edinburgh and was the Team GB flag bearer at the opening ceremony.

Winning Olympic silver medals in 2000, Katherine Granger is also a dedicated Edinburgh graduate, starting her rowing career while studying law at the university. Before the Olympics she was a force to be reckoned with, 2004, and 2006. She finally won her gold medal in the Double Scull with teammate Anna Watkins.

Michael Jamieson also had Olympic success, winning the silver medal in the 200m Breaststroke with the third fastest time in history. He currently swims jointly for the University Swim Team and Bath and trains at the University’s Centre for Sport and Exercise as well as the newly refurbished Royal Commonwealth Pool.

Gemma Gibbons has recently joined the University’s sporting community, undertaking a PGDE in physical education. Gemma won silver in the women’s 78kg Judo category despite only moving up to the category in 2012. She is Britain’s first medallist in Judo in twelve years. Craig Benson is also new to the university this year. He reached the semi-finals of the 100m breaststroke in the London and at only 18 years old is an up and coming talent to look out for.

Edinburgh’s success in sport demonstrates its commitment to supporting future and current sporting talents. In November last year Katherine Grainger presented the first Katherine Grainger Sports Scholarship for high-performance athletes to Kieran Brown.

Contributor: Siobhan MacLeod

Eric Liddell won a gold medal in the 400 metres and a bronze in the 200 metres in the 1924 Paris Olympics while studying Pure Science at the University of Edinburgh. He is famous for refusing to compete in his best event, the 100 metres, because it was held on a Sunday, an act immortalised in the film Chariots of Fire.

Patricia Russell, Eric Liddell’s daughter, was present at the launch and said of the scholarships: ‘Anything that helps today’s students follow in his footsteps is to be encouraged and supported. We look forward to seeing many more Olympic Champions come from the University of Edinburgh.’

The new scholarships will allow student athletes to compete at the highest level whatever their financial scholarships. This comes on the back of the University’s successes at the 2012 Olympics with Edinburgh alumni Sir Chris Hoy and Dr Katherine Grainger winning both winning gold medals.

The University of Edinburgh continues to pride itself on its commitment to sporting excellence and currently caters for 24 of the 26 Olympic disciplines. The five star facilities at the university’s Centre for Sport and Exercise reflect the on-going commitment to support its athletes. The new scholarships aim to provide a legacy from this years games beyond the 2014 Commonwealth Games while helping to ease the increasing pressure on times and costs to athletes competing at the highest level.

Four-time Olympic rowing medallist Katherine Grainger made a return to the university to visit a gym named in her honour.

Britain’s most successful female rower with four Olympic medals and the title of six time world champion to her name, returned to open the new facility at the University’s Centre for Sport and Exercise in November 2012. The facility features 22 state-of-the art rowing machines and was opened by HRH The Princess Royal as part of a series of events being held to mark the culmination of a £350 million campaign aimed at improving research and financial support to students. As the base for the majority of their land training, the University Boat Club benefit enormously from the new facility. The Katherine Grainger Sport Scholarship was also unveiled at the event offering £1250 per year to a current student at the university for the duration of their study.

Katherine Grainger, a gold medal winner at London 2012 in the double sculls event, began her rowing career as an Edinburgh undergraduate were she became captain of the Boat Club going on to win the Eva Bailey Trophy for the most outstanding female athlete in 1996 and again in 1997. Grainger becomes one of the latest in a long line of sporting achievement at the university beginning with Eric Liddell winning the University’s first Olympic medals at the 1924 games in Paris.  Hannah Telling, a student present at the opening of the gym said that she was inspired by Grainger’s talk which discussed her battle for Gold at London 2012.

‘It was truly inspirational. I learnt that if you apply yourself to something and want it enough then you can succeed, even if it takes disappointment (and some silver medals) along the way. That’s a message I’ll definitely be taking back to my own club.’ Katherine Grainger is the enthusiastic sporting ambassador that encapsulates the high profile ‘2012 legacy’ that dominated social media during the London Olympics and is arguably a living testament to the high quality of sports offered at the University of Edinburgh.

Contributor: Jenny Meagher