Eric Liddell

Eric Henry Liddell (; 16 January 1902 – 21 February 1945) was a British Olympic gold medalist runner, Scottish rugby union international player, and Christian missionary. He was born in China to Scottish missionary parents. 

At the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, Liddell refused to run because they were held on a Sunday. Instead he competed in the 400 metres held on a weekday, a race that he won. He returned to China in 1925 to be a missionary teacher. 

Liddell's Olympic training and racing, and the religious convictions that influenced him, are shown in the Oscar-winning 1981 movie Chariots of Fire, in which he is played by Ian Charleson.

Liddell died from brain cancer on 21 February 1945 at the Japanese run Weixian Internment Camp in Weifang at the age of 43. p. 160-170
 Related pages 
 Robert Jermain Thomas

References

Category:1902 births
Category:1945 deaths
Category:British sprinters
Category:Olympic bronze medalists for Great Britain
Category:Olympic gold medalists for Great Britain
Category:British people of World War II
Category:British Protestants
Category:British teachers
Category:Congregationalists
Category:Deaths from brain cancer
Category:Cancer deaths in China
Category:Christian missionaries
Category:Scottish Christians
Category:Sportspeople from Edinburgh