Eric Liddell

Eric Liddell (1902 to 1945) was a Scottish sprinter, rugby player and Christian missionary. He was born in Tianjin, China, to Scottish missionary parents, attended a boarding school near London, spent time when possible with his family in Edinburgh, and later studied at the University of Edinburgh. At the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris he refused to run the heats of his favoured 100 metres because they were held on a Sunday, which conflicted with his Sabbatarian views. He competed instead in the 400 metres, held on a weekday, and won the race. He was ordained a Congregational minister in 1932, returned to China in 1925 to serve as a missionary teacher, and remained there apart from two furloughs in Scotland until his death in a Japanese civilian internment camp in 1945. His Olympic training and the religious convictions behind it are depicted in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire.