With the attention of the world soon to focus on the 2024 Olympics in Paris, it seemed like an appropriate time to remember a Christian runner whose win at the 1924 Olympics, also in Paris, recently commemorated its 100th anniversary.
Eric Liddell was a rugby and track athlete from Scotland known in his day as the “flying Scotsman.” Liddell (pronounced “little”) was one of the main characters portrayed in Hugh Hudson’s 1981 academy-award winning motion picture, "Chariots of Fire," which depicts several runners on Great Britain’s 1924 Olympic team. But Eric Liddell was much more than an outstanding athlete. He was a devoted man of God whose character and servant’s heart have been captured in several biographies and documentaries, and whose life was a testimony of faith that continues to inspire nearly eighty years after his death.
If you’ve seen "Chariots of Fire" or remember the story, you know that Eric refused to run in the 100 meter dash— his best event— because the preliminary heats were scheduled to be run on a Sunday. As the devoted son of a Presbyterian missionary, God was Eric's first and foremost priority and he would not dishonor the Lord by running for his own personal glory on the Sabbath. (The owner of the British 100m record at the time, he was virtually assured a medal.) Liddell was ostracized in the British press for refusing to run. “Couldn’t he run on Sunday and dedicate the race to God?” one journalist wrote. Others called him a “traitor” for refusing to represent his country, Scotland, on a Sunday.
But Liddell was a man of deep conviction and nothing that anyone said could convince him to run on the Sabbath. God meant more to him than an Olympic medal. It took conviction and courage for Eric to say “no” to that which he desperately wanted. What Olympic athlete in our modern age would refuse to compete on a Sunday? Especially if they were favored to win the gold.
Eric Liddell was one of a kind, then and now.
As depicted in "Chariots of Fire," a fellow team member, Andrew Lindsay, suggested to the aristocrats on Great Britain’s Olympic committee that Eric be substituted for himself in the 400 meter race. While this may not be historically accurate, Eric was allowed to enter the event. But no one thought that a 100 or 200 meter sprinter would have the necessary qualities to win the 400 meter. “They were entirely different races calling for completely different abilities.” (Source: Eric Liddel biography by Catherine Swift.)
Although it’s a poignant moment when he wins the 400 meter, the movie doesn’t inform the audience that Eric actually set a new world and Olympic record time of 47.6 seconds in his gold medal winning effort. (The 400 wasn’t even his best event!) His Olympic record would stand for eight years, until Bill Carr of the U.S.A. broke it in 1932.
"Chariots of Fire" does, however, portray something that actually happened and is, for me, the greatest moment of encouragement in the film. A fellow competitor from the U.S.A., Jackson Scholz, gives Eric a note before the finals of the 400 meter. (In reality, it was a masseur who was officially assigned to care for the British team who gave Eric the note. He had come to know Eric very well and wanted to show him in some small way how much he admired him.) The note read: “In the Old Book it says, ‘He that honors me I will honor.’ Wishing you the best of success always.” In the movie, Eric reads the note right before the race. He then crinkles it up and runs with it held tightly in his fist for the duration of the race. This probably never really happened but the dramatic license profoundly captures how much that note meant to Liddell.
According to Tom Riddell, a Scottish athlete and contemporary, Eric once said, “when the gun goes off, I go as fast as a I can for the first half of the race and trust in God that He’ll have the strength to run the second half for me.”
Most pastors, Christian scholars and homeschool moms would tell you that winning the gold medal in the 1924 Olympics was not Eric Liddell’s finest hour. Eric's Christian values went with him everywhere he went. He used his newfound platform as Scotland’s Olympic hero to spread the gospel. He preached and taught from the Bible frequently. Eventually, he returned to China, the country where he was born, to serve as a missionary.
Eric taught Chinese children the Bible and how to play various sports. He came to be respected amongst the Chinese people and was known for exhibiting kindness, love, generosity and gentleness. It's estimated that he baptized hundreds of Chinese children in the time that he served.
While Liddell and his family were serving in China, Japan invaded in 1941. All missionaries were ordered to report to internment camps. Eric was able to send his pregnant wife and two daughters back to Scotland via Canada but he stayed to help minister to the Chinese. In 1945, Eric died suddenly at the age of 43 of a brain tumor while confined in a Japanese internment camp. The camp would be liberated by the allies 6 months later.
Eric Liddell was highly regarded amongst the Chinese people who knew him. A memorial stone stands on the grounds of the prisoner camp in China where he died. The POW camp has been transformed into a learning center for Chinese teenagers. Every new pupil at the school is taught about the camp and Eric's achievements on and off the track.
Eric Liddell was a true man of faith who sought to honor and glorify God all of his life. I love one of the last scenes in "Chariots of Fire" when Eric is running the 400 final and we hear his voice speaking (over the soundtrack) to his sister, Jenny:
“I believe God made me for a purpose. But He also made me fast.
And when I run, I feel His pleasure.”
What a feeling it must be to feel God’s pleasure... His favor! To know you are doing that which He has called you to do.
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the
prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in
the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not
last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”
1 Corinthians 9: 24-25
Recommended viewing:
Sources:
Eric Liddell by Catherine Swift (Bethany House Publishers, 1990)
Eric Liddell: Olympian and Missionary by Ellen Caughey (Barbour Publishing, 2000)
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