Eric Henry Liddell 100 Years on from 1924

At the former Stade Olympique de Colombes in Paris on 22 March 2024 a plaque was unveiled as a tribute to Eric Henry Liddell. The stadium was the main stadium for the 1924 Summer Olympic Games in which the Chinese born athlete, of Scottish parentage, running for Great Britain won Olympic Gold in the 400 metres in a world record time of 47.6 seconds. This was not the only medal that the athlete won at these Olympic Games, but it was perhaps the most significant due to the circumstances. Because of his religious beliefs Liddell had refused to run in the 100 metres, one of the events that he had been selected for, because the heats for the event were scheduled for the Sunday. The core of the athlete’s faith as a Scottish evangelical was a burning conviction in personal salvation through the merits of Jesus and this meant honouring the sabbath and not running on the Sunday. An act that was to contribute to the David Puttnam produced film Chariots of Fire, first released in 1981 and re-released on 13 July 2012 in support of the 2012 London Olympic Games.

This paper examines the life of Eric Henry Liddell and its enduring significance 100 years on from the 1924 Paris Olympic Games. The research was supported by a grant from the Eric Liddell Foundation which enabled research assistance from the United Kingdom (UK) and the People’s Republic of China (China). The paper draws upon newspaper reports, documents, memorabilia form the Eric Liddell Foundation archives and film footage from the BBC archives.