Eric Liddell was a Scottish Olympic champion at 400 m and a famous Christian missionary; his inspirational life was captured in the film 'Chariots of Fire'
Although his parents was Scottish, Eric Liddell was both born and died in China. He was born on 16 January 1902 in the city of Tientsin (now Tianjin) in north-eastern China.
He was sent to Eltham College, a Christian boarding school for 12 years. In 1921, he moved to Edinburgh University where he studied Pure Science. From his schooldays he was an outsanding sportsman, excelling in short distance running, rugby union and cricket. In 1922 and 23 he played for Scotland Rugby Union in the Five Nations. However, it was at running that he really excelled, and after setting a new British record in the 1923 100 yards sprint, he was considered a great prospect for the Olympics in 1924.
Eric Liddell was a committed protestant Christian. Because the heats of the 100m sprint was held on Sunday, he withdrew from the race - a race considered to be his strongest. Instead he concentrated on the 400 metres as the race schedule didn't involve a Sunday.
Liddell was considered to be a strong favourite for the race. Before the final the US Olympic masseur slipped a piece of paper into his hand. It included the words from the Bible 1 Samuel 2:30 "Those who honour me I will honour". Sprinting from the start, Liddell created a significant gap to the other runners and held onto win Gold and set a new Olympic record time of 47.6 seconds. He described his race plan:
"The secret of my success over the 400m is that I run the first 200m as fast as I can. Then, for the second 200m, with God's help I run faster."
He also won bronze in the 200m. In this race, he also beat Harold Abrahams a British rival and team-mate.
Liddell's running style was unorthodox. Towards the end of the race he would fling his head back, with mouth wide open appearing to gasp for breath.
In 1925, Liddell returned to northern China to serve as a missionary like his parents. In China he remained fit, but only competed sporadically. Liddell married Florence Mackenzie a Canadian missionary. They had three daughters Patricia, Heather and Maureen.
In 1941, the advancing Japanese army pressed Liddell and his family to flee to a rural mission station. Liddell was kept very busy dealing with the stream of locals who came to the station for medical treatment and food.
In 1943, the Japanese reached the mission statement and Liddell was interned. Aggravated by the shortage of food and medical treatment, Liddell developed a brain tumour and died five months before libeartion.
Many camp internee's attest to the strong moral character of Liddell. He was seen as a great unifying force and helped to ease tensions through his selflessness and impartiality.
In "The Courtyard of the Happy Way", Norman Cliff, wrote of Liddell
Citation : Pettinger, Tejvan. "Biography of Eric Liddell ", Oxford, UK www.biographyonline.net, 22nd Jan. 2011
Above article from: http://www.biographyonline.net/sport/athletics/eric-liddell.html
He was sent to Eltham College, a Christian boarding school for 12 years. In 1921, he moved to Edinburgh University where he studied Pure Science. From his schooldays he was an outsanding sportsman, excelling in short distance running, rugby union and cricket. In 1922 and 23 he played for Scotland Rugby Union in the Five Nations. However, it was at running that he really excelled, and after setting a new British record in the 1923 100 yards sprint, he was considered a great prospect for the Olympics in 1924.
Eric Liddell was a committed protestant Christian. Because the heats of the 100m sprint was held on Sunday, he withdrew from the race - a race considered to be his strongest. Instead he concentrated on the 400 metres as the race schedule didn't involve a Sunday.
Liddell was considered to be a strong favourite for the race. Before the final the US Olympic masseur slipped a piece of paper into his hand. It included the words from the Bible 1 Samuel 2:30 "Those who honour me I will honour". Sprinting from the start, Liddell created a significant gap to the other runners and held onto win Gold and set a new Olympic record time of 47.6 seconds. He described his race plan:
"The secret of my success over the 400m is that I run the first 200m as fast as I can. Then, for the second 200m, with God's help I run faster."
He also won bronze in the 200m. In this race, he also beat Harold Abrahams a British rival and team-mate.
Liddell's running style was unorthodox. Towards the end of the race he would fling his head back, with mouth wide open appearing to gasp for breath.
Life as a Christian Missionary
In 1925, Liddell returned to northern China to serve as a missionary like his parents. In China he remained fit, but only competed sporadically. Liddell married Florence Mackenzie a Canadian missionary. They had three daughters Patricia, Heather and Maureen.
In 1941, the advancing Japanese army pressed Liddell and his family to flee to a rural mission station. Liddell was kept very busy dealing with the stream of locals who came to the station for medical treatment and food.
In 1943, the Japanese reached the mission statement and Liddell was interned. Aggravated by the shortage of food and medical treatment, Liddell developed a brain tumour and died five months before libeartion.
In "The Courtyard of the Happy Way", Norman Cliff, wrote of Liddell
"the finest Christian gentleman it has been my pleasure to meet. In all the time in the camp, I never heard him say a bad word about anybody".A fellow internee, Stephen Metcalfe, later wrote of Liddell: "He gave me two things. One was his worn out running shoes, but the best thing he gave me was his baton of forgiveness. He taught me to love my enemies, the Japanese, and to pray for them."
Citation : Pettinger, Tejvan. "Biography of Eric Liddell ", Oxford, UK www.biographyonline.net, 22nd Jan. 2011
Above article from: http://www.biographyonline.net/sport/athletics/eric-liddell.html
"We are all missionaries. Wherever we go we either bring people nearer to Christ or
we repel them from Christ." - Eric Liddell
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