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Stephen Liddell Biography & Facts

Eric Henry Liddell (; 16 January 1902 – 21 February 1945) was a Scottish sprinter, rugby player and Christian missionary. Born in Qing China to Scottish missionary parents, he attended boarding school near London, spending time when possible with his family in Edinburgh, and afterwards attended the University of Edinburgh. At the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, Liddell refused to run in the heats for his favoured 100 metres because they were held on a Sunday. Instead he competed in the 400 metres held on a weekday, a race that he won. He returned to China in 1925 and served as a missionary teacher. Aside from two furloughs in Scotland, he remained in China until his death in a Japanese civilian internment camp in 1945. Liddell's Olympic training and racing, and the religious convictions that influenced him, are depicted in the Oscar-winning 1981 film Chariots of Fire, in which he is portrayed by fellow Scot and University of Edinburgh alumnus Ian Charleson. Early life Liddell was born 16 January 1902, in Tientsin, China, the second son of the Reverend and Mrs. James Dunlop Liddell, Scottish missionaries with the London Missionary Society. Liddell went to school in China until the age of five. At the age of six, he and his eight-year-old brother Robert were enrolled in Eltham College, a boarding school in south London for the sons of missionaries. Their parents and sister Jenny returned to China. During the boys' time at Eltham, their parents, sister, and new brother Ernest came home on furlough two or three times and were able to be together as a family, mainly living in Edinburgh. At Eltham, Liddell was an outstanding athlete, earning the Blackheath Cup as the best athlete of his year, and playing for the First XI and the First XV by the age of 15, later becoming captain of both the cricket and rugby union teams. His headmaster, George Robertson, described him as being "entirely without vanity." While at the University of Edinburgh, Liddell became well known for being the fastest runner in Scotland. Newspapers carried stories of his feats at track events, and many articles stated that he was a potential Olympic winner. Liddell was chosen to speak for Glasgow Students' Evangelistic Union by one of the GSEU's co-founders, D.P. Thomson, because he was a devout Christian. The GSEU hoped that he would draw large crowds to hear the Gospel. The GSEU would send out a group of eight to ten men to an area where they would stay with the local population. It was Liddell's job to be lead speaker and to evangelise the men of Scotland. University of Edinburgh In 1920 Liddell joined his brother Robert at the University of Edinburgh to study Pure Science. Athletics and rugby played a large part in his university life. He ran in the 100-yard and 220-yard races for the university, and played rugby for the University Club. He played for Edinburgh District in the inter-city matches against Glasgow District of 3 December 1921 and 2 December 1922, from which he gained a place in the backline of a strong Scotland national rugby union team. In 1922 and 1923, he played in seven out of eight Five Nations matches, and scored back-to-back tries in four appearances, which included wins over Ireland, France, and Wales. While his main weapon was his speed, The Scotsman opined after Scotland's victory over Ireland in 1923 that "never again should it be held against him that he is 'only a runner'", and The Student wrote that Liddell had "that rare combination, pace and the gift of rugby brains and hands". On the centenary of his first international cap against France in January 1922, Liddell was inducted into the Scottish Rugby Hall of Fame for his achievements. In 1923 he won the AAA Championships in athletics in the 100-yard race (setting a British record of 9.7 seconds that would not be equalled for 23 years) and 220-yard race (21.6 seconds). He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree after the Paris Olympiad in 1924. Paris Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics were hosted by the city of Paris. A devout Christian, Liddell withdrew from the 100-metre race (his best event), because the heats were going to be held on a Sunday. The schedule had been published several months earlier, and therefore his decision was made well before the Games. Liddell spent the intervening months training for the 400-metre race, though his best pre-Olympics time of 49.6 seconds, set in winning the 1924 AAA championship 440-yard race, was modest by international standards. On the morning of the Olympic 400-metre final, 11 July 1924, Liddell was handed a folded square of paper by one of the team masseurs. Reading it later he found the message: "In the old book it says: 'He that honours me I will honour.' Wishing you the best of success always." Recognising the reference to 1 Samuel 2:30, Liddell was profoundly moved that someone other than his coach believed in him and the stance he had taken. The pipe band of the 51st Highland Brigade played outside the stadium for the hour before he ran. The 400-metre had been considered a middle-distance event in which runners raced round the first bend before coasting down the back straight. Inspired by the Biblical message, and deprived of a view of the other runners because he drew the outside lane, Liddell raced the whole of the first 200 metres to be well clear of the favoured Americans. With little option but to treat the race as a complete sprint, he continued to race around the final bend. He was challenged all the way down the home straight but held on to take the win. He broke the Olympic and world records with a time of 47.6 seconds. It was controversially ratified as a world record, despite being 0.2 seconds slower than the record for the greater distance of 440 yards. A few days earlier Liddell had competed in the 200-metre finals, for which he received the bronze medal behind Americans Jackson Scholz and Charles Paddock, beating British rival and teammate Harold Abrahams, who finished in sixth place. This was the second and last race in which these two runners met. His performance in the 400-metre race in Paris stood as a European record for 12 years, until beaten by another British athlete, Godfrey Brown, at the Berlin Olympics in 1936. After the Olympics and graduation from the University of Edinburgh, Liddell continued to compete. His refusal to compete on Sunday meant he had also missed the Olympic 4×400-metre relay, in which Britain finished third. Shortly after the Games, his final leg in the 4×400-metre race in a British Empire vs. USA contest, helped secure the victory over the gold medal-winning Americans. A year later, in 1925, at the Scottish Amateur Athletics Association (SAAA) meeting in Hampden Park in Glasgow, he equalled his Scottish championship record of 10.0 seconds in the 100-yard race, won the 220-yard contest in 22.2 seconds, won the 440-yard contest in 47.7, and participated in a winning relay team. He was only the fourth athlete to have won.... Discover the Stephen Liddell popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Stephen Liddell books.