As I arrange my timetable for the next two weeks to allow plenty of space to cheer on our Olympians in Paris I feel a strong sense of nostalgia. It is 100 years ago that the Flying Scotsman, Eric Liddell, born in China to missionary parents, won gold in the 400m sprint at the 1924 Paris Olympics. That was obviously well before my time, but the nostalgia stems from the lasting impact on me of the brilliant 1981 film Chariots of Fire that recounted Liddell’s story.
The backstory of this man provides a curious challenge for a secular age that prizes success and competition and winning above all else.
Liddell was a student at Edinburgh University and the fastest sprinter in the UK and went to Paris as Britain’s great hope for gold in the 100m. But he discovered as the British Olympic team left for Paris that the 100m heats were to be held on a Sunday. As a committed Christian he believed that one of the Ten Commandments about honouring the Sabbath meant no competitive sport on Sunday and he provoked a team crisis by refusing to run. How could he let himself and his country down over such a pedantic rule? Surely his first duty was to his........