Why Athletes Make Great Business School Students

Guest post: digiSchool

We often hear that top athletes are strong but not smart. But this cliché has been proven wrong, as many top French athletes actually go to business school.

Think athletes can’t do academia? Think again...

Who said that sports careers couldn’t fit with higher education? French athletes Stéphane Diagana, world champion of the 400 metres and Roxana Maracineanu, world champion of the 200 metres backstroke, have both graduated from ESCP Europe, the oldest business school in Europe. Indeed, many business schools find these “out of the ordinary” student profiles increasingly interesting.

Flexible schedules fit studies around training

Business schools are ready to adjust to these athletes to allow them to go to class. Indeed, when you see an athlete like Teddy Riner winning competition after competition and attending classes in one of the most prestigious French schools at the same time, you can wonder how it is possible. Since 2011, he has been attending Sciences Po Paris and has a special schedule allowing him to juggle his education with his numerous training sessions. Many athletes like Riner get this kind of schedule. But at the same time, other schools, like ESCP Europe, don’t hesitate to include sportspeople in “normal” classes with other students – depending on what works best for everyone involved.

Great publicity for business schools

Finally, if business schools are ready to do athletes a favor, that is because they benefit too. This is particularly the case when an athlete wins a competition and talks about the school in an interview, giving the institution great publicity.  And business schools are well aware that the sports sector offers many prospects. This seems particularly clear when you consider that in France alone, this field has a turnover of about €10 billion each year.

An expert in digital education, digiSchool is the French leader in this field, with more than 6.5 million users per month and more than 5 million members. Now seeking to extend its model in the UK and Spain, digiSchool offers services designed for students at secondary school, high school and university, available on all devices (web, mobile, tablet).