He's home in Chiswick and still recovering from his horrific accident but that didn't deter James Cracknell from helping to launch "schools Olympics" at the recent Conservative party conference.

The Schools Olympics pilot event will start early in 2011 and allow children to compete in a range of sports including Olympic and Paralympic disciplines. It will culminate in county-level events next summer, which will help finalise plans for Olympic year 2012.

Cracknell recently returned home to his family after his near-fatal accident in America in which he suffered a fractured skull and 'significant' contusions to the frontal lobe area of his brain.

Doctors in America were 'amazed' by his recovery and after one month, he was ready to return to the UK.

He received further neurological rehabilitation at a London hospital before doctors agreed he was ready to return home to Chiswick, however they continue to stress that he should continue to convalesce before gradually resuming his responsibilities.

With a new baby on its way with his TV presenting wife Beverley Turner, he's going to need all the strength he can get.

October 12, 2010