It is something of a British peculiarity that many of their most renowned figures frequently excel in fields quite distinct from their principal vocation. Thus, among the most famous British missionaries of the twentieth century, Eric Liddell (16 January 1902 – 21 February 1945), known as “The Flying Scotsman” or “The Flying Pastor”, also distinguished himself through extraordinary sporting accomplishments.
Eric Liddell was born in China, in Tianjin, known in French as Tientsin, in north-eastern China, approximately one hundred kilometres from Beijing, where his father, the Reverend James Dunlop Liddell, served as a missionary with the London Missionary Society. In accordance with British custom, he left his parents at the age of five to return to England and attend Eltham College, near London. He subsequently moved to Scotland to join his brother at the University of Edinburgh, where he studied science.
The Rugby Player
From his schooldays, he distinguished himself through his athletic abilities, rapidly becoming captain of both the cricket and, above all, the rugby union teams. At university, he continued his passion for rugby, playing as a winger. This earned him selection for the Scotland national team on seven occasions. He played against France in 1922, competed in the Five Nations Championship in 1922 and 1923, and concluded his rugby career against England on 17 March 1923.
The Athlete
At the same time, he proved himself an exceptional runner, specialising in the 110 yards and 220 yards events. It was during the Olympic Games that the incident which would make him famous took place.
The undisputed favourite for the 100 meters, he discovered that the qualifying heats for the event at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris were scheduled for Sunday, 6 July 1924, a major obstacle for this deeply committed Christian. He therefore refused to compete, leaving the field open to his rival, the Englishman Harold Abrahams, who went on to win the event.
Liddell then concentrated his training on the 200 and 400 meters, with remarkable results given the brevity of his transition. In the 200 meters, he won the bronze medal. In the 400 meters traditionally regarded as one of the most demanding athletic events, and despite running the final in the outside lane, considered the least favourable, he set a world record on 11 July 1924 in 47.6 seconds, although he had never previously run the distance in under 49 seconds.
This moment was immortalised in Hugh Hudson’s film Chariots of Fire, in the making of which his sister Jennie participated. One should also note his unorthodox running style, with arms and legs flailing and his head thrown backwards. When asked how he had managed to reach the finish line without seeing it, he replied: “The Lord guided me!”
The Christian
Eric Liddell also became known at an early age as a remarkable Christian speaker, preaching throughout his youth in Scotland, notably before the Glasgow Students’ Evangelical Union. Nevertheless, in 1925 he interrupted his highly promising sporting career in order to depart as a missionary to China, where he was assigned to Tianjin, his birthplace. He would remain there for eighteen years.
He was ordained as a pastor in 1932 and married there in 1934. It was there that the war between China and Japan overtook him. In 1941, he succeeded in evacuating his wife and children to Canada, but remained behind in order to continue his ministry.
Assigned to Shaoshang in Hunan to relieve his brother in the medical service, he was captured and interned in the Weixian camp in Shandong province in 1943. It was there that he died in 1945 from a brain tumour, almost certainly aggravated by mistreatment and appalling nutrition.
His death caused profound emotion in Scotland, where he had remained immensely popular. This episode was later portrayed in the 2018 film On Wings of Eagles, in which he was played by Joseph Fiennes.
