Eric Liddell
Eric Liddell, born on January 16, 1902, in Tianjin, China, was a Scottish athlete renowned for his remarkable achievements in track and field. Known as the "Flying Scotsman," he gained international fame for winning the gold medal in the 400 meters at the 1924 Paris Olympics, an event famously depicted in the film *Chariots of Fire*. Liddell was not only a gifted runner but also an accomplished rugby player, representing Scotland in international matches. His deep Christian faith influenced his athletic career, leading him to withdraw from the 100 meters in the Olympics due to a scheduling conflict with the Sabbath, which drew both criticism and admiration. After his Olympic triumph, he dedicated his life to missionary work in China, teaching science and athletics while engaging in evangelical efforts. Tragically, Liddell was captured by Japanese forces during World War II and died in a prisoner-of-war camp in 1945 at the age of 43. His legacy as a sports icon and a devoted Christian continues to inspire many around the world.
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Subject Terms
Eric Liddell
Athlete
- Born: January 16, 1902
- Birthplace: Tianjin, China
- Died: February 21, 1945
- Place of death: Weihsien internment camp, China
Sport: Track and field (sprints)
Early Life
Eric Henry Liddell’s spectacular 400-meter victory in the 1924 Paris Olympics was highlighted in the celebrated film Chariots of Fire (1981). The “Flying Scotsman,” as he came to be known, was born on January 16, 1902, in Tianjin, China. His parents were Scottish, and his father was a Christian missionary. Missionary work inevitably became important in Eric’s life. From the time he was five years old, Eric lived in Scotland. Although small, he was athletic and grew up enjoying rugby.
The Road to Excellence
Eric excelled as a rugby player and competed in seven international matches for Scotland. He could have pursued rugby as a career. Eventually, he devoted himself more to running. The Scots were the first to revive the kind of athletic competition lost since the days of the Greco-Roman world, and the Scottish Highland Games, already prominent in the nineteenth century, constituted the forerunner of modern track and field competition. Scottish heritage and pride were inherent in these and other local games.
Eric quickly became a local sports hero and attracted sizable crowds wherever he competed. He answered critics who found his enjoyment of sport too frivolous by using his athleticism and the attention it received to help spread a Christian message.
The Emerging Champion
Eric first gained national attention when he won both sprints at the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA) championships in 1923. In a meet with England and Ireland the next week, he was tripped and fell while running the 440-yard race. Undaunted, he got up and resumed the race. Although twenty yards behind, he caught his competition, passed them, and won. Word about the inspired Christian sprinter spread quickly. Eric simply explained that he did not like to be beaten.
By the time of the 1924 Paris Olympics, Eric was a divinity student at the University of Edinburgh and Scotland’s greatest athlete. He was also British champion and record holder in the 100-yard dash. Eric was sent to Paris as a member of the British Olympic squad. No European had ever won a gold medal in the 100 meters, and the best that anyone from Great Britain had done was third place in the Antwerp Games. Eric’s chances to win the first gold—or at least a medal—must have appeared a strong possibility to his Scottish and British fans.
As fate would have it, Eric never had the opportunity to compete in the 100 meters. Eric had always had difficulties balancing his athletic career with his religion, and when he learned six months in advance that he would have to compete on a Sunday, his religious convictions forced him to withdraw. His respect for the Sabbath was more important than a chance for an Olympic medal in the 100 meters. Eric’s teammate Harold Abrahams ultimately won the event. For the same religious reason, Eric did not compete in the relays. His decision drew a great deal of criticism, and he was accused of a lack of patriotism, selfishness, and religious fanaticism. He would still compete in the 200- and 400-meter races at Paris.
Continuing the Story
Once in Paris, Eric emphasized his convictions by delivering the sermon in a Scottish church on the Sunday of the 100-meter heats. On July 9, he competed in the 200 meters and came in third. He was the third successive third-place finisher for Great Britain in the event, but his time of 21.9 seconds was best of the three.
In the 400 meters, however, Eric achieved Olympic immortality. On July 10, he qualified for the semifinals, but his time attracted little attention. The next day, he qualified for the finals by running 48.2 seconds, by far the fastest he had ever run, but still not impressive—earlier heats had been won in 48.0. The finals were run later the same day, and Liddell literally ran the race of his life. Running in the outside lane, he defied all conventional track wisdom by racing flat out. He led from start to finish and covered the 400 meters as if it were a sprint. No one could keep up with him or even get near him. By the time he finished, he was more than five meters ahead of his closest opponent and had established an Olympic record time of 47.6 seconds. Few athletic performances were ever as electrifying—or as inspired.
Eric returned to Scotland a national hero and was paraded through the streets of Edinburgh. A month later, his fellow students carried him from the university to St. Giles Cathedral, where he received his divinity degree. No athlete could have had a more spectacular end to his career, as Eric then turned his attention fully to his religious duties. A year later, he returned to China, where his family continued its missionary work.
In China, Eric taught science and athletics at the Anglo-Chinese college in Tianjin. In 1934, he married a fellow missionary’s daughter, a nurse named Florence, and engaged in evangelical work in rural China. When the Japanese invaded China in 1937, Eric’s pregnant wife and two daughters left for Canada while he continued his work. In 1941, he was taken prisoner by the Japanese. On February 21, 1945, he died of a brain tumor in a prisoner-of-war camp at the age of forty-three.
Summary
Eric Liddell combined a life of athletic prowess and Christian faith to become Scotland’s greatest athlete and to win one of the most spectacular single victories in Olympic history. In the 400-meter race at the 1924 Paris Olympics, he inspired and amazed the athletic world by setting an Olympic record and outdistancing his opponents by more than five meters in a race that no one expected him to win. He overcame criticism and hostility for his religious convictions and, ultimately, won the praise of his compatriots and the world. In particular, he gave the Scots a national hero. The so-called “muscular Christian” died doing what was most important to him in occupied China during World War II.
Bibliography
Benge, Janet, and Geoff Benge. Eric Liddell: Something Greater than Gold. Seattle, Wash.: Youth with a Mission, 1998.
Caughey, Ellen W. Eric Liddell: Gold Medal Missionary. Uhrichsville, Ohio: Barbour, 2006.
McCasland, Dave. Eric Liddell: Pure Gold—A New Biography of the Olympic Champion Who Inspired Chariots of Fire. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Discovery House, 2001.