from "Decoding The Word"; Teenagers' Platform
Without doubt one of Scotland's greatest sporting heroes, Eric Liddell,
owes much of his fame more to a race he didn't run than any he did. However,
the uplifting manner in which he lived his life, as portrayed in the film "Chariots of Fire", truly marks him as one of the greatest of Scottish heroes.
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In the early 1920s, Liddell established himself as one of the country's
top runners, regularly scooping not only the Scottish 100- and 220-yard
sprinting tiles, but also in the 440-yard contests, a fact often overlooked
later. Liddell was also successful in British competition, winning the shorter
sprint distances at the Triangular International Contests in 1921, 1922 and
1923, this competition showcasing athletes from Scotland, England and Ireland.
This success made Liddell a dead cert for inclusion in the British
Olympic squad which set sail for Paris in 1924, and although he was strongly
fancied as a contender in the 100 metres event, he was not destined to race in
this, his strongest event. Due to his religious principles, Liddell refused to run in the 100m
heats, which were held on a Sunday (Liddell instead spent that particular
Sabbath preaching in the Scots Church in Paris). Instead, the Scot elected to
run in 400 metres, a distance in which he was a good performer, but certainly
not his forte.
He faced a strong field in that distance, in particular from the
American team, one of whom, Jackson Schulz, has bested Liddell in the 200m, and
had also to contend with some negative press from some quarters of the British
camp, who could not understand his placing God above winning a medal for the
King. Liddell was to some extent even helped by the American attitude, as their
coach had instructed their runners not to worry about the Scot, who he was sure
would burn out after 200m.
Liddell, however, was ready for the challenge, and, after sportingly
shaking the hands of each of his competitors, the "Flying Scotsman"
was off. An impeccable run saw the Scot not only collecting gold by a margin of
some six metres, but also setting a world record of 47.6 seconds in the
process.
Perhaps Liddell's own words can best describe how he came to triumph on
that day in Paris: "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."
