Eric Liddell Part 1: Sports Career and Chariots of Fire- Guest post by Neil Bettridge
- Jul 13, 2024
- 10 min read
For this guest post, I am delighted to welcome my friend and colleague, Neil Bettridge. Neil is Project Archivist at the Derbyshire Record Office, and has kindly written a short 2 part series on the life of Eric Liddell, who the film Chariots of Fire is about, to coincide with with 100th anniversary of him refusing to run on a Sunday because of his faith at the Paris Olympic games of 1924. You can see part 2 on Eric Liddell here
As most people are no doubt aware, the Olympic Games will soon be starting in Paris, so it seems the appropriate time to celebrate the man who secured one of the greatest sporting triumphs in that same city one hundred years ago. On Friday 11th July 1924, Eric Liddell ran to an unlikely victory in the final of the men’s 400 metres race, breaking the world record in the process and earning a fitting reward for his principled stand to refuse to race on Sundays in his preferred event. His resolution won the admiration and respect of many for what he did, and rightly so. It is, however, entirely typical of how the Scot lived his life. He genuinely is an inspiring figure, and in an age when our heroes often turn out to have feet of clay, his example shines brightly through.
I only really became aware of Eric Liddell as a result of the multi-award winning film “Chariots of Fire”. This has long been a favourite film of mine, one I have watched many times over the years. In 1981 it won no less than four Oscars; Best Picture, Best Costume Design by Milena Canonero, Best Original Screenplay by Colin Welland and Best Original Score by Vangelis. The Greek composer’s decidedly anachronistic music brilliantly set the tone for the film, especially in the famously iconic running-on-the-beach sequence, which was so brilliantly parodied in the London Olympics Opening Ceremony, involving Mr Bean, Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra. The beach where the original running took place was actually filmed at St Andrews, which I found out from a friend who was studying at the university there at the time.
The basic premise of the film is straightforward: it plots the two different but closely linked paths which two young men take to achieve sporting success against the odds. Harold Abrahams (played by Ben Chaplin), is a young man in a hurry, an Englishman but a Jew born of Lithuanian stock, fighting against the prejudiced, anti-Semitic ranks of the British establishment, and Eric Liddell (played by Ian Charleson) is a devout Christian Scot who stays firm to his religious principles by refusing to run on a Sunday in his favourite event. It is a stirring film, telling its story with great gusto with the help of several talented actors.
Eric Henry Liddell was born on 16 January 1902 in the Chinese port of Tientsin (now known as Tianjin), the second son of Scottish missionary parents, James and Mary Liddell. The fact that Eric was born there would later come to be seen as highly significant to the Chinese. In the period up to the Beijing Olympics of 2008, much was made of his being the first person born on Chinese soil to win an Olympic gold medal. It would have been something which would have made Eric proud. Although he was undeniably a Scot, he always identified himself with China, and he longed to return there after leaving when aged only five.
In 1907 the Liddell family had returned to Britain, as James Liddell had thoroughly earned a period of furlough after nine exhausting years of missionary work. Once back the decision was taken by their parents that Eric and his elder brother, Robert, would stay in Britain to receive their education. They were enrolled in the “School for the Sons of Missionaries” in Blackheath, which would late move its premises to Mottingham, Kent, and become known as Eltham College in 1912, Separated from the rest of the family, the two brothers formed a strong bond that helped to keep each other going. The two boys both developed talents for playing games, seemingly trying to outdo each other in terms of sporting records and to encourage each other’s competitive instincts. Although Eric was known for his sportsmanship and kind and generous behaviour towards his fellow athletes, he always wanted to win.
In 1920 Eric entered Edinburgh University to study science, following his brother Robert, who went there to study medicine. It was then that Eric Liddell burst onto the wider sporting scene, when he used his speed to stunning effect in not just one field, but two. Rugby Union was a great love of Eric’s, who had played the game at Eltham College. Playing for the University, his speed on the wing in attack, strong tackling ability in defence, and ball-handling skills soon attracted the attention of the Scottish selectors, who picked him for an international match in France on 2 January 1922. It would be played at the Stade de Colombes, the very same stadium where he would go on to compete in the 1924 Olympics. In all, he would represent Scotland 7 times, score 4 international tries and only appear on the losing side once. It was a highly respectable return on his rugby-playing career, but one which would be curtailed by his growing commitment to athletics and, in particular, his ambition to run in the Olympics.
Although he had competed in athletic events at school, Liddell had had no intention of becoming an athlete on entering university. It wasn’t until the end of his second term that he was asked by a friend, who had heard he had run at school, whether he wanted to take part in a university athletic event. His initial reaction was to turn it down, but he soon reversed his decision, and his incredible talent soon manifested itself. He had natural speed, which, linked with his strong work ethic and competitive drive, meant that he became the dominant force in sprinting in Scotland and became an outstanding prospect for the Olympic games in 1924.
Eric himself gave an enormous amount of credit for his success to the guidance and advice of the Edinburgh University coach, Tom McKerchar. He does not appear or even get any mention at all in the film. Although McKerchar was an “amateur” in that he took no money, he demanded high standards from the athletes under his charge and was widely respected as a coach. He guided Liddell through what were effectively novice steps in terms of starting technique, training and proper warm-ups, but then encouraged him to think on a more tactical level in terms of race strategy. Perhaps his greatest gift to Liddell was not to change his running style, which involved his head raised skywards and arms flailing when at top speed. It was usually derided by others as ugly and inefficient, but McKerchar recognised that it was entirely natural to him and that it would probably have been counter-productive to try and rectify something that obviously worked.
We come, therefore, to the Olympics decision which have made him so famous. His devout religious beliefs held that the Christian Sabbath was intended as a day of rest and was not meant for work or organised recreations such as sporting events. In the film Eric only gets to hear about the heats for the 100 metres being on Sundays when he was boarding the boat with the rest of the British Olympic team to cross the Channel. This was purely artistic licence on the part of the film-makers. The Olympic schedule had been set a couple of years in advance, and it came to Eric’s attention several months before he sailed to France. In choosing not to run the 100 metres or the relays because there were due to be heats on Sundays, he was not actually taking a difficult decision for himself. His strict observance of Sunday as a day of rest in obedience to the Bible and the Fourth Commandment was never in question, and he never really doubted that it was the right thing to do.
It was not a popular decision with many people, once it became apparent that he could have been a contender for the blue riband event, the 100 metres, the winner of which could have claimed the glory of being the fastest man on earth. Great pressure was put on him to change his mind over the issue, first by the British Olympic Association, then by certain sections of the press, turning people against him for being unpatriotic and putting God before King and Country. Various attempts to persuade him out of his decision failed to move him. His commitment to the ideal of Sunday observance, and through it his commitment to God, proved much too strong for any counter arguments.
One thing that always seems to be overlooked, however, is that he was always eligible to take part in the 200 metres, which had no Sunday participation, and he could still, therefore, be an Olympian. He was entirely proficient in the 200 metres and he was indeed selected for that event. No only did he take part in it, but he also ended up performing very well in the event, actually finishing third behind two Americans, winner, Jackson Scholz, and runner-up Charley Paddock. There is an image showing Scholz’s joyful’s leap at the point of victory, where Liddell is mostly obscured behind Paddock. This moment is actually re-enacted in the film, but without Liddell, and is shown as a loss for Abrahams, with no indication that the Scot had even run the event let alone won a bronze medal!
The option to take on the 400 metres in place of the 100 was, on the face of it, an unlikely one. Sprinters who concentrate on the shorter distances generally do not have the stamina (or desire) to take on the 400 metres or quarter-mile. Tom McKerchar, however, had already seen something extra in Liddell which indicated he would have the stamina to make the transition to 400 metres. He had been present at the occasion when Eric was taking part in a 440 yards race and accidently got tripped only a few strides in. After a second or two’s hesitation, Eric got to his feet and started to run again, chasing the other runners down and crossing the finish line first before falling on the ground, breathless and exhausted. This race was memorably depicted in the film. Although he had rarely run the 400 metres, it became another option for Eric at the Olympics, as it involved no racing on Sundays. He had several months where he and McKerchar built up the training to prepare properly for an event which required four races over two days. As Eric’s physique and running style were regarded by many as inappropriate for the distance, he did not have the pressure of being a real contender for gold.
One day after his third place finish in the 200 metres, Eric took part in two heats on Thursday 10th July. He did enough to get through, relatively unnoticed. A Swiss runner, Josef Imbach, had broken the world record with a time of 48 seconds in the second round, which turned the attention of the American favourites even further away from Liddell. On the next day, Friday 11th July, in the first semi-final one of the Americans, Horatio Fitch, broke the world record again (47.8 seconds), ensuring he would go into the final clear favourite. Eric had joined him there, having won his semi-final in 48.2. In spite of that, he was still not feared, not even as the best Briton contender, as the Englishman, Guy Butler, had run Fitch close in the first semi-final.
One of the emotional highlights for me in the film is the scene just before the final takes place, when the American sprinter Jackson Scholz jogs over to Liddell and hands him a note. On it was written the words “In the old book it says: ‘He that honours me I will honour.’ Wishing you the best of success always”, quoting 1 Samuel chapter 2 verse 30. Again, it is another case of artistic licence by the filmmakers: it wasn’t the American sprinter who had handed him the note, but one of the physiotherapists on the British team, who had left it in Eric’s bag in the morning. The gesture did, however, move Eric very much and gave him a feeling of validation from others for his decision.
Liddell had been drawn in the outside lane, mostly considered a disadvantage because, with the staggering of lanes round the bends, you could not see how your competitors were doing. There is, however, one advantage in that you can concentrate running on your own race without distraction. Starting quick was often believed to be one of his weaknesses, but it was not the case this time. He flew off at the bang of the starting pistol and quickly got into his stride. He said later that it was the perfect start. His plan, as designed with his coach McKercher, was to run the first part of the race hard and hold on as long as possible. He reached the 200 metre mark at 22.2, only 0.6 of a second outside the winning time in the 200 metres and 0.3 seconds outside the time he ran to win the bronze. Nearly all those watching thought that there was no way that he could keep it going and that he would soon “blow up”. His main rival, Fitch, certainly thought the same, having made a more controlled and measured start and expected to overhaul him on the home stretch. In the film it is at the start of the home strait that Liddell is seen to put his head back and his arms really begin to flail, and the words of a previous scene with his sister Jennie are spoken over the slow motion action: “I believe God made me for a purpose, but He also made fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure”. He was able to keep going and won by a margin of 4 metres or so from Fitch, with Englishman Guy Butler finishing third. Liddell had won the race in a world record time of 47.6 seconds. He was not distressed or exhausted by his efforts, and the images of him after the race show a smiling, untroubled athlete. There is actually Pathé film footage of the race available on YouTube, and it is worth checking out.
The reception to his victory was vociferous, as the crowd had been enthralled by the race and Liddell’s supreme effort. As he left the athletic field, he was hoisted onto the shoulders of his British team mates and carried into the dressing room. He would later cherish the generous congratulations of his American opponents. He would go on to be acclaimed by the British public and press, including those who had disparaged him for his stance on not competing on Sundays. The most enthusiastic reception came when he returned to Edinburgh University a week later to receive his degree, when he was again raised on the shoulders of fellow students and carried through the streets, wearing a crown of laurels.
This was not, however, the end of Eric Liddell’s story. His life after the Olympics would go on to be an eventful one, becoming a missionary in China and truly revealing even more of his extraordinary qualities and selfless character, although ultimately ending in tragedy.
Sources:
Duncan Hamilton, For the Glory (Black Swan: 2017)
John W. Keddie, Finish the Race (Christian Focus Publishing Ltd: 2014)
John W. Keddie, Running the Race (Christian Focus Publishing Ltd: 2020)
Eric Liddell, The Disciplines of the Christian Life (SPCK: 2007)
Sally Magnusson, The Flying Scotsman (The History Press: 2007)
Chariots of Fire, film produced by David Puttnam, directed by Hugh Hudson, released 1981
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