Run It Back 01 · Calling & Impact
Eric Liddell
Gold was not the finish line.
The pursuit
Eric Liddell was a Scottish runner, born in China to missionary parents in 1902. His strongest event was the 100 meters. When he learned that its opening Olympic races would take place on a Sunday, he chose not to compete in that event. He kept Sunday for worship and rest. Before the 1924 Paris Olympics, he trained for the 200 and 400 meters instead.
What it produced
He won Olympic gold in the 400 meters in 47.6 seconds, setting a new Olympic record.
What it revealed
Our reading is simple: his faith shaped his choices, even when it meant giving up his strongest event. In 1925, the year after his Olympic win, he returned to China to teach at the Anglo-Chinese College in Tianjin.
What came next
In 1943, Japanese forces held him at Weihsien, a camp in China for foreign civilians. People who lived there later remembered him teaching children, helping older and sick people, and organizing games.
Margaret Holder, who knew him in the camp, later remembered him refusing to referee games on Sundays. When the children argued without a referee, she recalled, he began helping on Sundays. Writer Randy Alcorn recorded her account.
Some later accounts say he gave up a chance to leave the camp so a pregnant woman could go instead. Other people from the camp disputed the story, so we do not present it as proven.
He died in the camp on February 21, 1945, aged 43, before the war ended.
Run it back
Our reading of this pursuit:
- What it produced: an Olympic gold medal, followed by years of teaching and service.
- What it revealed: choices guided by faith and care for others.
- What came next: his pursuit continued in teaching and service after Olympic success.
Your turn
Think of something you’ve achieved, at school, at work, or in life. How could you use it to help someone else?
Go further
- Reflection 05 · Greatness starts with service.
- Courage 02 · Ernest Shackleton: getting your people home.
Sources: Eric Liddell Community · University of Edinburgh · SOAS Archives · Margaret Holder account · Weihsien archive
Built on Him. Built to become.