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Louise Thomas
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Clare Balding is embroiled in a debate about class after viewers suggested she appeared “incredulous” that no Olympians had visited the school of Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington growing up.
Adlington and Balding were joined by Mark Foster as they discussed the legacy of David Wilkie, the first British champion to win a gold medal for swimming at the 1976 Montreal Games.
Foster, a former Olympian swimmer and flag-bearer at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, reflected on his own inspiration as he shared that Duncan Goodhew had visited his swimming club when he was ten years old, moving him to try to follow in his footsteps.
“It was that little moment that inspired me,” explained Foster, as he asked Adlington if she’d had the same experience.
“To be fair I didn’t have somebody like that,” the gold medallist responded.
“No one came to your school?” said Balding, appearing surprised and sympathetic, as Adlington responded, “No, no.”
“Is that why you make sure you do what you do?” asked Balding.
“You end up doing your hobby and you love it,” responded Adlington as she moved the conversation back to Adam Peaty’s influence on the sport.
Some viewers were left unimpressed as they called out the comment for revealing Balding’s “class privilege”.
“Because of course Balding thought it TOTALLY NORMAL for Olympic medal winners to visit schools because being privately educated and descended from nobility and privilege this kind of thing is part of the cultural experience they expect,” wrote one person in a since viral thread on X/Twitter.
“Working class kids are never exposed to successful people because it is so much harder for working class kids to get access to the time, money, contacts and resources.
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“Of course Balding was incredulous, because she was exposed to this cultural capital and experience from birth.”
However, not everyone agreed, as one person countered, “[My] wife works in a primary school in an inner city deprived area and they’ve had Olympians in several times…”
Another added, “Worth saying that back when my kids were in state school 1990s, each year they’d get a visit from an Olympian. We have the pics taken at the time as proof! Things may have changed but I hope not!”
Balding’s colleague Gabby Logan defended the presenter as she responded to the thread saying, “I’m sure lots of what you say may be true about private school experiences, but it’s certainly not true about the whole of the BBC. I went to a state school nobody visited, teachers were striking in the Eighties, and no school trips. NB ‘Speakers for Schools’ is a great charity.
“Also to be clear I love my colleague and she’s a great broadcaster. But a sweeping statement about the BBC needed addressing. Look at our OG line up across the day, we are a mixed bag from different backgrounds bringing all our many experiences to the way we communicate.”
The Independent has contacted the BBC, Balding and Adlington for comment.
