2019 Boat Race: Olympic legend James Cracknell joins the University of Cambridge team – 47 years old

James Cracknell makes a spectacular comeback in rowing by becoming the oldest competitor of the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race.

The double Olympic gold medalist became eligible for the competition after deciding to study a Master in Human Evolution at the University of Cambridge.

And it was announced that Cracknell had been chosen for the Light Blue team despite being 47 years old.

The father of three will become the oldest man to compete in the annual competition, ahead of Andy Probert, who was 38 when he barred Cambridge in 1992.

Cracknell, who will occupy seat 2, told Varsity, Cambridge's student newspaper: "It's impossible to appreciate what the selection for The Boat Race looks like.

"If you trained so hard and competed with a group of guys for the same seats in a boat while studying hard at a university, you'd fall apart.

"The national team I had been part of for so long could learn a thing or two from The Boat Race teams.

"After a difficult year, doing the Blue Boat is probably my biggest success in rowing.

"But to make the boat is only the beginning, the other guys and I are not here for the kit.We are selected, we will deliver on April 7th."

Cracknell, married to television host Beverly Turner, won two Olympic gold medals in Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004.

Although he retired from high-level rowing in 2006, he continued to rise to extraordinary challenges in endurance.

He competed in the Amundsen Omega3 race at the South Pole, crossed the Atlantic Ocean and traveled the Arabian Desert.

He also became a successful runner, becoming the highest ranked Briton of all time at the Marathon des Sables and completing the London Marathon in 2:43:12 in 2017.

But in 2010, Cracknell was seriously injured in the head by a tanker truck, while he was attempting to row and bike across America.

The accident damaged the frontal lobes of his brain, causing epilepsy and a change of personality.

Last year, Cracknell said that he felt "honored" after being accepted as MPHil at Peterhouse College in Cambridge.

By the time he tweeted: "I will need the support of my wonderful family to take the course and if I embark on the selection of the boat race, the support of the old heart and lungs is needed. #Nevertooold . "

CUBC President Dara Alizadeh, 25, also named Callum Sullivan, 19, a music student on the team.

Sullivan was not born when Cracknell won the first of his gold medals at the World Rowing Championship.

Previously, Dara had said about Cracknell: "James is an amazing presence on the team, his rowing history is quite impressive and he brings his experience to the team.

"What's good with our club, is that we have such a wide range of guys in the team.In the end, we have people of the same age as James who have a lot of experience and on the other end, we have undergraduate students who are in first year.

"What's good is that all guys, no matter what their age and experience, they fit in perfectly and we were able to form a fairly united group – James is an important part of that."

In the past, other older athletes have tried the Boat Race, including rugby player Andy Ripley, who failed to make it into the team in 1998 when he was 50 years old.

Last year, Cambridge beat Oxford in the four races on the Thames, including men, women and two reservists.