Eric Liddell
Like many of you reading this, my first hearing of the name “Eric Liddell” was from the 1981 movie “Chariots of Fire”. In preparing this brief account of the varied dimensions of Liddell’s short life I’ve drawn on numerous sources as cited below.
Eric Liddell, who as a young man came to be known among his countrymen as “The Flying Scotsman” was born January 16, 1902 in Tianjin, China. The second son to his parents James and Mary, Eric was five years old when he came to Scotland on his parents’ year-long furlough from mission work in China. He did not return to China at year’s end with his parents, but was enrolled along with his older brother, Robert, in Surrey’s Etham College, a boarding school for boys of missionary parents. Eric’s self-effacing character made an impression on his head master at Etham, who recalled him as “a boy entirely without vanity”.
He settled firmly in Scotland upon entering Edinburgh University in 1920. In 1922 and 1923 the 5 foot 9 Liddell represented Scotland in rugby matches against England, Wales, Ireland and France. He excelled at this sport, but also found his speed translate to performance on the track. In a short time he became the fastest dash man Scotland had known having broken the 100m British record in 1923.
A conversation with his mother no doubt helped him put his physical abilities in focus as goes this attested exchange between the two. Eric talked to his mother, who was then on furlough, about his running. “Mother, does God really want me to run?” She replied, “God has given you a tremendous gift, Eric, of that I am sure….You won’t go to China for a few years, my son….Perhaps this is God’s plan. To run now, and to give God all the glory for your gift”.
And run he did. In the 1924 Paris Olympics, having already passed up the 100m race competition as it fell on a Sunday, he opted for the 400m. He won gold in that event, setting a new world record with his winning time of 47.6 seconds.
True to his vision to work with the children of China, his Olympic fame was set aside for his life’s work. In July 1925 Eric crossed the English Channel once again but this time boarded the Trans-Siberian railway for the long journey to the Far East destination – his birthplace Tientsin. He was ordained a minister in 1932 and continued working with the Chinese youth along with his wife, Florence, until his assignment in 1941 took him to an unstable part of the country. Florence and their daughters retuned to Canada and Eric continued the work there with his physician-brother, Rob. Japanese occupation led to his eventual internment at Weihsien. His health failing as liberation drew near, he succumbed to a brain tumor, February 21, 1945. He was remembered by a fellow internee, Stephen Metcalf, with the words “Eric Liddell was a great Olympic champion who gave it all up to come to teach the youth of China”.
Eric's Olympic victory was preceeded by gold-medal performances of other Scottish sprinters, namely, Wyndham Halswelle in the 400m (London1908), Henry McIntosh in the 4x100m relay (Stockholm 1912), and Robert Lindsay in the 4x400m relay (Antwerp 1920). This string of consecutive Scottish sprint golds ended with Liddell's effort in '24. Fifty-six years later, at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, another Scottish sprinter would take gold; Allan Wells took a photofinish victory in the 100m final, a fitting reward to the personal sacrifice and training a world-class sprinter endures. At the post-race press conference Wells notably reflected on Liddell, his countryman with whom he now shared that center podium, a moment of Olympic glory.
Cited sources:
“Great Cloud of Witnesses”, Jack Voelkel, Urbana.org
“A Sporting Nation - Eric Liddell”, Bbc.co.uk
“Chariots of Fire hero honoured in homeland – China”, Richard Spencer, Telegraph.co.uk
“Eric Liddell 1902-1945”, Visit Scotland.com
“Tracking Heroes: 13 Track & Field Champions”, Robert J. Corrigan
Coming Soon: Scotland Footballer - Brian Irvine