Cracknell, a member of the coxless four at Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004, hopes to stand as a candidate to be the Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the South West.

Cracknell was left brain injured after a serious cycling accident in 2010 when he was hit by a petrol tanker as he attempted to cross the United States by bike, rowing, running and swimming in 16 days.


The damage to his brain affected the frontal lobes - which control personality - and has caused him memory loss and to become epileptic.

"People will ask am I capable to do it after my accident," said Cracknell, who is married to television and radio presenter Beverley Turner.

"I ask myself that, but I don't want to live in a society where people impose ceilings on you.

"We should not be setting ourselves those sorts of limits.

"I just want to go for it and see it through. If I make a bad politician so be it, but it could quite easily be that I would have made a bad politician before the accident."

James Cracknell with wife, television and radio presenter Beverley Turner

In 2006 he joined television presenter Ben Fogle on the Atlantic crossing. 

The pair, who rowed naked to avoid chafing, travelled nearly 3,000 miles in 49 days, 19 hours.

He says his past achievements showed his ability to succeed in whatever he wanted to do.

"When I start something I've got the ability and the determination to see it through," he said.

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