The Real Chariots of Fire

On July 11, 1924, Eric Liddell stunned the world at the Paris Olympics by winning gold in the 400 meters with a record-breaking time of 47.6 seconds. Known as the "Flying Scotsman," Liddell was already a national hero for his achievements in rugby and sprinting, but his refusal to run the 100m—his best event—on a Sunday due to his faith made him a global symbol of integrity.This episode dives deep into Liddell’s Olympic triumph, the controversy and conviction behind his choices, and the enduring legacy he left both on and off the track. Discover the man behind the legend, the drama of the 1924 Olympic final, and how Liddell’s story continues to inspire athletes and leaders a century later.


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Speaker 1: Imagine standing at the starting line of the nineteen twenty

four Paris Olympics. Your country in the world expects you

to win the one hundred meters. You are by far

the favorite, but the race is held on Sunday, and

you are a man of faith, and you refuse to

run on Sundays, so you give up that medal, but

instead you step on the track for a race you

don't run the four hundred meter and make history winning

that race to win gold. That is the story of

Eric Lindall, an Olympic champion that went on to be

told one of the most iconic sports movies of all time,

Chariots of Fire. If we're going to dive into his

story about how this all happened today on Daily Sports History,

let's go. Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese,

your guide because I carbo load every day like an

an Olympic athlete. So first we got to go back

to how Eric Lindell got here. Born in nineteen o

two in Tangent, China to Scottish parents who were missionaries

part of the London Missionary Society. His parents were deeply

committed to their faith, in a legacy that would shape

Eric's character from the start. At the age of five,

Eric and his older brother left China to go to

Eltham College, just south of London. It was a boarding

school for sons of missionaries, and life here was marked

by many kids being separated from their families, many of

who remained in China. But despite all these challenges that

Eric faced, he actually thrived ethemically and athletically. He won

the prestigious Blackheathed Cup, which was given to the school's

top athlete, and he captained both the cricket and the

rugby team by the age of fifteenth. His headmaster described

him as entirely without vanity, so despite him being such

a good athlete, he was not cocky like the average jock,

and his athletic prowess actually went beyond the school. He

became a standout rugby player and earned a place on

the Scottish national team and actually participated in seven international matches. However,

his true love and where he left his true mark

was on the track. By the time he entered the

university in nineteen twenty to study pure science. Now, this

is common for people of faith that enjoyed science, but

by this time Eric was known and recognized as the

fastest runner in Scotland and he would regularly draw large

crowds and media attention just to the races he competed in,

and everyone touted him as the next Olympic contender. But

through all of this Eric maintained his faith and would

visit hospitals to volunteer all over the country using his platform.

He gained from athletics and while at the University of

Edinburgh he actually was doing great on the rugby, but

his speed on the track kept overshadowing it, and by

nineteen twenty three he had set the British record for

the one hundred yard dash at nine point seven seconds,

and that record would stand for twenty three years. He

would also win the one hundred and the two hundred

and twenty yard dash at the Trade Championships that year.

He was known to be the top sprinter in Britain

by a long shot. The following year, in nineteen twenty four,

was the Paris Olympics, and this was what made Eric

Lindall really stand out because he qualified and he was

set to run the one hundred meter, his best event.

Everyone thought he was going to win it hands down.

It was like Usain Bolt running win the one hundred.

Now he knew he was going to win, but when

the schedule came out, the one hundred meter dash was

set to be run on Sunday, and Eric was still

a devout Christian. Due to his beliefs, he did not

believe he should compete on the Sabbath. So what he

did was changed his focus to the two hundred meter.

In the four hundred meter races, most sprinners that run

the one hundred do also run the two hundred meter.

That's not a surprise, but the four hundred meter is

what was really surprising. That's a huge gap in running terms.

You're going from short distance to mid distance, and most

runners don't do that. But these races were not ran

on the Sabbath, so he could actually run both of them.

So his first event was the two hundred meter and

the field was stacked, but he was able to run

fast enough to get a bronze medal. Then on July eleventh,

nineteen twenty four, he ran the four hundred meter dash. Now,

his best attemp at this was forty nine point six seconds,

wasn't really considered a competitive time against the rest of

the world, yet on this day, running against the best competition,

despite not having everything ready, he used his faith to

help him do something he's never done before. The atmosphere

was electric. A pipe band was playing just outside of

the stadium, giving a nod to his Scottish roots, and

Eric drew the outside lane, unable to see his competitors.

And the four hundred is a unique race. You're still sprinting,

but you want to hold back a little bit to

try to make it up at the very end and

give you're all at the end. But he didn't do

that because he doesn't know how to run the four hundred.

So he exploded out of the blocks. And if you

know anything about the outside lane, it's you can't see anybody.

You're ahead of everybody. Everyone else is behind you because

they stagger it on the turn, because that's how it

makes it equal. So he starts ahead of everybody and

he bust out of the blocks just like he's running

the one hundred, and he reaches the halfway mark the

two hundred meter with twenty two point two seconds, just

zero point three seconds slower than his two hundred meter

time he had just ran. And everyone was convinced he

would just fade away. Yes, he could run that distance

and he was ahead of everybody, but no one was.

At this point, he couldn't see anybody, so he just

kept running the same speed and he didn't fade like

normal sprinters do. He kept that speed through the entire

lap and he would cross the speed with a time

of forty seven point six seconds, which broke the Olympic

and world record. No one expected this guy to win.

He only did this race because of his fate. It

was the only one he could run because they couldn't

run his best race. So what would you do after this?

You have fame and glory. Everyone's so excited. Your story

is amazing, so amazing that it would be made into

a movie years later with that iconic soundtrack. So do

you step into that fame? No? He left behind his

glory after he was done with college and went to

go serve as a missionary in China, just like his parents,

and he became a teacher at an Anglo Chinese College,

teaching science, English, and sports and quickly became beloved and

shaped a generation of Chinese leaders through educational sports and

Christian values. And just ten years after he won his

gold medal in the four hundred, he would marry Florence McKenzie,

who was a missionary nurse, and during World War Two,

him and his wife wereked to save civilians and soldiers

throughout the time until he told his wife and kids

to go to Canada for safety while he stayed there

to serve the Chinese in need. Then he would be

interned by Japanese with over two thousand foreigners in harsh conditions,

but used his faith to get through and after years

in the camp, he was able to be liberated, but

would pass away just a few from a brain tumor.

Now after this, his story started to spread about how

he was selfless and he used his faith to help

through this time. In some of the worst conditions in

an interment camp, he still helped guide others through his faith,

and in nineteen eighty one his story or would be

broadcast to the world when it was immortalized in the

Oscar winning film Charity to Fire, a story that showed

conviction and courage to a new generation. His refusal to

run in his improbable victory and what it symbolized for

sports in life, and also gave us one of the

greatest sports songs ever. He would be inducted into the

Scottish Sports Hall of Fame. Memorials of him are in

China and the UK to honor both his athletic and

missionary work. And what his story really shows is that

life is more than sports. He was also able to

touch even more off the track, and I think that's

what we often forget about. All these sports are great,

but what are they doing off the field? Off the track?

Who they are as a person is what it really

means in life. So the question is do you believe

in something so much that you would give up a

sure thing? Like Eric Lindell. Thank you for listening to

Today's Daily Sports History. If you like this, please make

sure you like and subscribe wherever you're listening. This show

is produced, written, recorded, and published by me Ethan Reese

and I can't wait to see you on the next one.