Eric Liddell's tracks in the movie Chariots of Fire

 

 

The 1924 Paris Olympics, the setting for the movie Chariots of Fire, turned 100 years old this month, and later this month, the city will host the Games again.

 

Eric Liddell, one of the main characters in Chariots of Fire, was a British athlete and Presbyterian missionary whose life was more cinematic than the movie.

 

Born the son of missionaries in China, he became a British national athlete and won an Olympic gold medal for standing up for what he believed in. It was exactly 100 years ago today, July 11, 1924, that he won the gold medal.

 

Eric left the fame and glory behind and moved back to China, where he worked in education, relief, and missionary work until he died of a brain tumor in a camp in Shandong Province during World War II.

 

Eric Ridley's legacy lives on not only in the movie, but also in his hometown of Tianjin, China, and the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, where he studied.

 

When I visited Tianjin, China a few years ago, a Chinese professor asked me if I knew "Eric Liddell" in the middle of a conversation. When I told them that I knew him as the real-life Chariots of Fire movie star, Olympic gold medalist, and missionary who loved China, he was thrilled.

 

He told me that Eric Liddell was involved in the design of the former Tianjin General Stadium, which is now a civic park, and that the people of Tianjin, regardless of politics or religion, are grateful for his dedication.

 

It took me to his memorial space in the middle of a former sports field that has since been turned into a civic park and shopping mall. There, I met Eric Liddell, a philanthropist who threw his life away for the Chinese people.

 

A little disappointingly, there was little in the memorial that documented his life as a missionary. It's understandable since the location is China. Stumbling upon Eric Liddell's trail was, in a word, a delight.

 

 

A little more time passed, and when I visited Scotland, I found Eric Liddell's trail again. Eric studied pure science at the University of Edinburgh and there's a marker in his honor in the building where he studied. I've had the opportunity to talk about Eric Liddell with people from Scotland and most of them knew Eric and were proud of him. In the movie Chariots of Fire, it's said that all of Scotland mourned when news of Eric's death broke.

 

Eric, whom I met in Edinburgh, was a young man's passion. He had a clear purpose in life and was always thinking about what to live for and how to live it. He was brilliant and humble. I could feel his presence as I walked the campus where he studied and where he worked out hard.

 

July 11, 1924, the day Eric Liddell announced the meaning of his existence.

It's been over 100 years, but his poignant message still seems to resonate with us today.