0:00:04 > 0:00:08Races are run and races are won. Records set and broken. Olympic
0:00:08 > 0:00:15stars rise to eclipse those who have shone in the past. There are
0:00:15 > 0:00:20also examples of athletic endeavour that endure. Eric Liddell's Olympic
0:00:20 > 0:00:30achievements have stood the test of time. Yes, others have run faster,
0:00:30 > 0:00:40
0:00:40 > 0:00:46but no-one embodies the spirit of Eric Liddell inspired the movie
0:00:46 > 0:00:51charities of fire, with its iconic opening scenes on the seafront at
0:00:52 > 0:01:00St Andrews. The film tells the story of a man who put God before
0:01:00 > 0:01:10the chance of Olympic glory and still won a Gold Medal. His
0:01:10 > 0:01:25
0:01:25 > 0:01:31character is captured brilliantly Eric Liddell was one of the fastest
0:01:31 > 0:01:34men in the world in the early 1920s. As the Usain Bolt of his day he was
0:01:34 > 0:01:39Britain's best hope for the 100 metres final at the Paris Olympics.
0:01:39 > 0:01:44But there was a problem, the qualifying heats were to be run on
0:01:44 > 0:01:51a Sunday. As the son of a Christian missionary, Eric Liddell would not
0:01:51 > 0:01:55compete on the Sabbath. For him, it was non- negotiable. He pulled out
0:01:55 > 0:01:59of what should have been the race of his life. Eric Liddell is as
0:01:59 > 0:02:06famous for the race he refused to run as for the race that won him
0:02:06 > 0:02:14Olympic gold. But it wasn't just in Paris in 1924 that he put principle
0:02:14 > 0:02:20before personal ambition. That's how Eric Liddell lived his life.
0:02:20 > 0:02:26He lived a few years of that life in Scotland's capital city. These
0:02:27 > 0:02:35days, Edinburgh is home to a Christian charity founded in his
0:02:35 > 0:02:39honour. The care for the elderly and look after an archive
0:02:39 > 0:02:46illuminates the life of the man. These are toys Eric Liddell played
0:02:46 > 0:02:53with as a child, more than a century ago. They are of oriental
0:02:53 > 0:02:58origin and so was Eric. This great son of Scotland started life 5,000
0:02:58 > 0:03:03miles from his homeland. He was born to Scottish missionary parents
0:03:03 > 0:03:07in conflict ridden China in 1902. To find out more about that
0:03:07 > 0:03:14childhood, I spoke to his biographer, who is also a colleague.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18At the time that Eric was born, China was just recovering from the
0:03:18 > 0:03:24boxer rebellion, which was an uprising basically against
0:03:24 > 0:03:28foreigners and foreign intervention during which hundreds of Western
0:03:28 > 0:03:32missionaries were quite casually slaughtered. In the face of that,
0:03:32 > 0:03:39these missionaries, like Eric's father James Liddell, continued to
0:03:39 > 0:03:44go right into the centre of it and work with the Chinese people.
0:03:44 > 0:03:50was to this dangerous work that Eric would dedicate his own life,
0:03:50 > 0:03:56bringing education, health care and the Bible to the Chinese people.
0:03:56 > 0:04:01First he had to acquire an education of his own. For that,
0:04:01 > 0:04:09six-year-old Eric and older brother Rob were sent to boarding school in
0:04:09 > 0:04:16England. It was at Eltham college that the Liddell boys learned to
0:04:17 > 0:04:22love sport. Take your marks, set... GUN FIRES
0:04:22 > 0:04:27There's a look of determination on their face. That's right. I don't
0:04:27 > 0:04:33know whether they've all learned that from Eric's finishing strides.
0:04:33 > 0:04:41I'm not sure the heads are back. Nofrpblgts, not enough.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45Do you look up to him? It's fair to say. Charities of fire and things,
0:04:46 > 0:04:51he's quite a well known figure round the world. So it's nice that
0:04:51 > 0:04:54you're part of school where he's been. I think we do. Our school
0:04:54 > 0:04:58maintains strong cultural links with China because Eric Liddell
0:04:58 > 0:05:04grew up in what is now Tianjin in China. We have a link with a school
0:05:04 > 0:05:10there and so we maintain contact with them as part of our heritage
0:05:10 > 0:05:13from Eric Liddell. You were really fast and determined. Could you have
0:05:13 > 0:05:21taken Liddell? No, I don't think. So I've got a bit more training for
0:05:21 > 0:05:25that. He played all sorts of sport. He was keen on his rugby and went
0:05:25 > 0:05:29on to play for Scotland. Sportsday as well was a big day for him. We
0:05:30 > 0:05:38know in 1918 he and his brother more or less carried off the first
0:05:38 > 0:05:42and second prizes in most of the running races. Eric's rugby career
0:05:42 > 0:05:45continued to flourish at Edinburgh University. As a science
0:05:45 > 0:05:49undergraduate, he was repeatedly capped for the Scottish
0:05:49 > 0:05:55international side. He gave it all up to concentrate on his running,
0:05:55 > 0:05:58even if he looked a most unlikely sprint champion. He had this
0:05:58 > 0:06:05tremendously ungainly style and sort of ran like this. You would
0:06:05 > 0:06:09think, how is that going to propel this man? But he used that style to
0:06:09 > 0:06:12get him to the finishing line faster than everybody else. They
0:06:13 > 0:06:18used to sit in the stands and think, goodness, that wasn't a very good
0:06:19 > 0:06:23start. He's never going to make it. Then they would say, but his heads
0:06:23 > 0:06:29not back yet. Sure enough, when the head went back, people used to say
0:06:29 > 0:06:37how can he see. His wife said, "Eric, when you run like that, how
0:06:37 > 0:06:41can you see where you're going?" He said, "Ah, I could see. I could
0:06:41 > 0:06:47see." Liddell's legend lit a flame of Olympic ambition in another
0:06:47 > 0:06:52great Scottish sprinter. So who better to assess his running style.
0:06:52 > 0:06:58I had a chance to see it today and it really is inadequate to be
0:06:58 > 0:07:02honest. It's inefficient. In some ways I see some similarities with
0:07:02 > 0:07:08arm action with the east Germans when they used to run, certainly
0:07:08 > 0:07:13one or two of the women. Maybe it wasn't that bad, but his legs,
0:07:13 > 0:07:18technically he wasn't driving off the back. Because he wasn't driving
0:07:18 > 0:07:22off the back, his hips were low. It tells you that there was quite a
0:07:22 > 0:07:31bit more there, I think. But he wasn't the most athletic person to
0:07:31 > 0:07:36look at either. This sculpture at Edinburgh University captures Eric
0:07:36 > 0:07:41in full flight. He may not have been the most streamlined runner,
0:07:41 > 0:07:46but having arms like windmills never held him back. The only thing
0:07:46 > 0:07:51that stopped him competing was his own clear cut religious conviction.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55Eric would not run on a Sunday, amen. We decided to invite you in
0:07:55 > 0:07:58for a chat to see if there's any way we can resolve the situation.
0:07:58 > 0:08:04There's only one way to resolve the situation, that's for this man to
0:08:04 > 0:08:08change his mind and run. Don't state the obvious. We have to
0:08:08 > 0:08:12explore ways where we can help this young man reach that decision
0:08:12 > 0:08:22afraid there are no ways, Sir. I won't run on the Sabbath and that's
0:08:22 > 0:08:22
0:08:22 > 0:08:26final. It's hard to imagine another athlete taking the same stand today.
0:08:26 > 0:08:31Eric's eldest daughter is convince today was the only decision her
0:08:31 > 0:08:36father could have made. He used to say, I'm not setting up rules for
0:08:36 > 0:08:44other people. These are my rules. I'm not going to do it. And he
0:08:44 > 0:08:49certainly wasn't going to give up his principles for a Gold Medal. I
0:08:49 > 0:08:53really firmly believe that if under some big circumstances he had been
0:08:53 > 0:08:59convinced to run on the Sunday, I don't think he would have got the
0:08:59 > 0:09:03gold. I think it would have been ashes in his mouth. His passion for
0:09:03 > 0:09:12the race would have gone. He would not have stayed up to his
0:09:12 > 0:09:18principles and so, the medal would have just not materialised. News of
0:09:18 > 0:09:22Eric's decision caused a sensation. Walking away from his best chance
0:09:22 > 0:09:28of an Olympic medal may not have been a difficult decision for Eric
0:09:28 > 0:09:32Liddell, but it shocked his peers, the public and the press. And a
0:09:32 > 0:09:39critical crowd of reporters came to his door here at Edinburgh
0:09:39 > 0:09:42University to confront him. Eric's flat mate at that time recalled the
0:09:43 > 0:09:48backlash in an earlier BBC interview. I remember very well how
0:09:48 > 0:09:53they came to George Square, the hostel where we were together there.
0:09:53 > 0:10:01They hammered on the door, demanding to see him. On one
0:10:01 > 0:10:05occasion it was my job to go down and try to clear them off. At that
0:10:05 > 0:10:12time, they were quite menacing almost and there were cries of
0:10:12 > 0:10:16"he's a traitor to his country". Eric's firm stand for his faith was
0:10:16 > 0:10:23widely misunderstood. His sacrifice mistaken for selfishness. Despite
0:10:23 > 0:10:28the criticism, he continued to train, pounding the path opposite
0:10:28 > 0:10:32his university flat. He wouldn't compromise his principles to please
0:10:32 > 0:10:42the crowd. Instead he switched distance. He put all he had into
0:10:42 > 0:11:11
0:11:11 > 0:11:21proving himself as a 400 metre man. Eric's performance in Paris was
0:11:21 > 0:11:23
0:11:23 > 0:11:29world beating. Here in the university's display cabinets is
0:11:29 > 0:11:36the evidence. The gold plating might have worn off, but this is an
0:11:37 > 0:11:41Olympic gold for the 400 metres and it says along the side "won by EH
0:11:41 > 0:11:46Liddell". Not only that he also picked up a bronze for the 200
0:11:46 > 0:11:50metres. These weren't his best distances and neither of these
0:11:51 > 0:11:55medals was he expected to win. was able to convert from 100 metres
0:11:55 > 0:12:00sprinter to a 400 metre man. You can't do that in a year. You can't
0:12:00 > 0:12:05do that in a couple of years maybe, but maybe three years you could
0:12:05 > 0:12:09probably do justice to it, but for him to do it in such a short period
0:12:09 > 0:12:17of time was exceptional. It would be exceptional, I'm talking about
0:12:17 > 0:12:25nowadays. It would be exceptional nowadays.
0:12:25 > 0:12:35I believe God made me for a purpose. But he also made me fast. I'm going
0:12:35 > 0:13:01
0:13:01 > 0:13:05Eric was about heart. Steel is tickly, Eric was a terrible runner,
0:13:05 > 0:13:09but -- stylistically Eric was a terrible runner, but it was, it was
0:13:09 > 0:13:14about heart. Every now and then you watch a race, and every now and
0:13:14 > 0:13:19then there's an athlete who goes beyond just being stylistically or
0:13:19 > 0:13:23well trained, who you know is running purely on guts. Eric, I
0:13:23 > 0:13:27think was a guts runner. Whatever drove him to victory, he came home
0:13:27 > 0:13:30an Olympic hero. Within a week, he was carried shoulder high through
0:13:30 > 0:13:36Edinburgh on his graduation day. His new-found celebrity attracted
0:13:36 > 0:13:46large crowds to hear him speak at religious meetings. Eric Liddell,
0:13:46 > 0:13:58
0:13:58 > 0:14:02Eric was not interested in pursuing fame and fortune at home. He was
0:14:02 > 0:14:12determined to promote his faith abroad - in the country and city of
0:14:12 > 0:14:15his birth. When Eric arrived here in Tianjin, it was a bustling
0:14:15 > 0:14:20international port. For 12 years he taught sciences at a Christian
0:14:20 > 0:14:28school and threw himself into the life of the sti. Almost a century
0:14:28 > 0:14:33on, it is still possible possible to trace his influence. Eric
0:14:33 > 0:14:37Liddell helped design this athletic stadium and won one of his last
0:14:37 > 0:14:42gold medals on this track. But they are taking this place apart piece
0:14:42 > 0:14:51by piece to make way for a commercial development in fast-
0:14:51 > 0:14:55changing China. There are those here who remember China in the days
0:14:55 > 0:15:01before shopping malls and skyscrapers. Those who were
0:15:01 > 0:15:06educated at the TACC, the Anglo- Chinese college where Eric worked.
0:15:06 > 0:15:15One former student is Mr Yu, known to his Western friends as "William".
0:15:15 > 0:15:22He was given the name by Eric. Mr Yu. Hello. Very good to meet you.
0:15:22 > 0:15:31Welcome. Now, 86, he remembers how Eric helped him win the chance of a
0:15:31 > 0:15:36full education. I said, "How can you help me?" "I will give you two
0:15:36 > 0:15:41books. One books is English reader named step by step English reader
0:15:41 > 0:15:49that Mr Eric Liddell gave to me. The other book is conversation. He
0:15:49 > 0:15:59told me, "You study this couple of books, these two books, you maybe
0:15:59 > 0:16:01
0:16:01 > 0:16:08can enter the TACC." Then I get the entrance examination to TACC.
0:16:08 > 0:16:16you have got in without his help? Maybe - I think it's very, very
0:16:16 > 0:16:24difficult, because I was English very poor. In tribute to his former
0:16:24 > 0:16:32teacher, William wrote the first biography of Eric in Chinese.
0:16:32 > 0:16:39was a very, very good teacher for me. He was very, very - there is
0:16:39 > 0:16:44nobody can compare to my former teacher. William worked on his book
0:16:44 > 0:16:48with another local man who researched Eric's time in Tianjin
0:16:48 > 0:16:53and who has uncovered some interesting new information. This
0:16:53 > 0:16:58is the old European quarter of Tianjin, and for years it was
0:16:58 > 0:17:03thought that Eric Liddell and his family made this their home. In
0:17:03 > 0:17:07fact, until last year, there was a plaque up here saying that this was
0:17:07 > 0:17:13Liddell's former house. But according to the latest research,
0:17:13 > 0:17:18it could be we've got it wrong. Mr Yeo is a local historian here. He's
0:17:18 > 0:17:28been telling me that in fact the Liddell family probably lived up
0:17:28 > 0:17:32
0:17:32 > 0:17:38the street. It took a short walk to discover the new address. I think
0:17:38 > 0:17:43this is the one. We can't be 100% sure because street names and even
0:17:44 > 0:17:48the numbers of the houses here have changed. But a missionary life
0:17:48 > 0:17:53would have been pretty comfortable here. Certainly far more
0:17:53 > 0:18:01comfortable than Eric Liddell's life in China would become. There
0:18:01 > 0:18:05were happy times. In 1934, Eric married a Canadian, Florence
0:18:05 > 0:18:09MacKenzie. They soon had two daughters. Family life would be
0:18:09 > 0:18:15severely disrupted by war. In 1937, Eric accepted a much more dangerous
0:18:15 > 0:18:19job. He left the city to serve as a minister in the village of
0:18:19 > 0:18:24Siaochang. It was a battleground in the violent struggle between
0:18:24 > 0:18:32Chinese Communists and Nationalists, a frontline in their shared
0:18:32 > 0:18:37campaign to repel the invading army of Japan. China was no longer safe,
0:18:37 > 0:18:43so Florence and the children sailed for Canada. Eric stayed put. In
0:18:43 > 0:18:481984, Florence described their parting. Eric put Patricia on his
0:18:48 > 0:18:55knee, I guess Heather was only three years old. And he took both
0:18:55 > 0:18:59the girls and he said, "Tricia, I want you to look after Mummy with
0:18:59 > 0:19:04Heller and with the new baby and you just take care of Mummy." She
0:19:04 > 0:19:09was five years old, she wasn't quite six. And she was very a very
0:19:09 > 0:19:14solemn little thing, she said, "Yes, Daddy, I'll look after Mum until
0:19:14 > 0:19:20you come back." And that's what she has done ever since. All three
0:19:20 > 0:19:27daughters have been a real blessing to me. He took me on his knee and
0:19:27 > 0:19:34he said, "Tricia, I want you to be a good girl. I want you to be
0:19:34 > 0:19:40responsible. I want you to look after my mother, your Mother, until
0:19:40 > 0:19:44I come back." I said, "I will, I will do exactly that." And it
0:19:44 > 0:19:49wasn't until years later when I heard my mother repeat that story
0:19:49 > 0:19:57that I realised what a huge impact that had made on me. At four, it
0:19:57 > 0:20:04never crossed my mind that this was a separation that was going to last
0:20:04 > 0:20:11forever. No. It's another example of self-sacrifice. Eric sense his
0:20:11 > 0:20:20family to safety, and stayed behind to help the Chinese people. It was
0:20:20 > 0:20:29a fateful decision. It brought him here, to the stay of Weifang, and
0:20:29 > 0:20:33the most challenging circumstances of his life. What is now a school
0:20:33 > 0:20:43for 2,000 Chinese teenagers was in World War Two, a Japanese prison
0:20:43 > 0:20:50
0:20:50 > 0:20:56camp for up to 2,000 Westerners. Eric was one of them. While
0:20:56 > 0:21:01visiting the site, I met 93-year- old Xiao Yulan. She remembers how
0:21:01 > 0:21:06local people tried to help the internees.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10TRANSLATION: At that time, those believers in Jesus donated money
0:21:10 > 0:21:14for buying food and supplements for the people in the camp. They
0:21:14 > 0:21:22secretly delivered them into the camp. But that was a hard time, so
0:21:22 > 0:21:27the help was limited. Eric spent the last two years of his life as a
0:21:27 > 0:21:34prisoner of the Japanese. He taught children, organised sports and help
0:21:34 > 0:21:38those who needed it. By now, his Olympic triumph was almost 20 years
0:21:38 > 0:21:43past. His heroism was never further to the fore. His tireless service
0:21:43 > 0:21:52to others touched fellow internees deeply. Stephen Metcalf was a
0:21:52 > 0:22:01teenager, with nothing to wear on his feet when he met Eric. He was
0:22:01 > 0:22:10somebody who really cared. He said to me, "Steve, it's now January,
0:22:10 > 0:22:15and your shoes are completely worn out." He said, "I would like to
0:22:15 > 0:22:24give you these. You may be able to get three or four weeks out of
0:22:24 > 0:22:30them." And he had them wrapped up, his running shoes, in a cloth, I
0:22:30 > 0:22:35think it was. Towards the end of 1944, people started to notice a
0:22:35 > 0:22:41difference in Eric. He seemed slower, more tired. He said, "I
0:22:41 > 0:22:45don't know what's going on in my head." He said, "Something it's
0:22:45 > 0:22:53something frightening." It was about two weeks would it be before
0:22:53 > 0:23:01he died, that he went into hospital. And people were talking, clearly,
0:23:01 > 0:23:07about he had a brain tumour. 21st February, 1945, Eric sent this
0:23:07 > 0:23:17telegram to his wife. In it he says he suffered a slight nervous
0:23:17 > 0:23:18
0:23:18 > 0:23:23breakdown and needs rest. That night, in this building, Eric died.
0:23:23 > 0:23:31His friend and fellow internee, Annie Buchan, was with him at the
0:23:31 > 0:23:39end. He just suddenly said, "Annie, it's complete surrender" and that
0:23:39 > 0:23:46was his last breath. And he just went into a coma. And he never
0:23:46 > 0:23:52recovered. He had been a man that was surrendering to God all his
0:23:52 > 0:24:02life through and I don't believe it cost him much to say complete
0:24:02 > 0:24:10
0:24:10 > 0:24:18surrender, you see, because he knew I used to wonder, you know, why?
0:24:18 > 0:24:22Why didn't he just come home with us? It would have certainly made
0:24:22 > 0:24:28our lives better, and I didn't really understand it until I
0:24:28 > 0:24:33started meeting people who had been children in the camp, and there
0:24:33 > 0:24:38were something like 500 children in that camp without their parents. So
0:24:38 > 0:24:44the teachers and people like my Dad were very, very important to them,
0:24:44 > 0:24:51and I could see the big picture. It mattered that he was in that camp.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55It made life a lot better for a lot of people and a lot of children.
0:24:55 > 0:25:04The children in the camp called him "Uncle Eric" and today they learn
0:25:04 > 0:25:08about him at the school here. TRANSLATION: This part of history
0:25:08 > 0:25:11is a great treasure for all our school. We can see the great value
0:25:11 > 0:25:14of humanity, especially in Eric Liddell's stories. When a stunt
0:25:14 > 0:25:20enrols, they have half a week to learn about the school, including
0:25:20 > 0:25:24half a day to learn about the history of the Weinsehen camp. We
0:25:24 > 0:25:29kept the course from when the school was founded and the students
0:25:29 > 0:25:34learn much from the course. Eric is buried in the camp grounds. No-one
0:25:34 > 0:25:41knows exactly where. But in front of the building in which he died, a
0:25:41 > 0:25:48memorial stone tells his story in English and Chinese. Weifang has
0:25:48 > 0:25:53adopted Eric Liddell as one of its own. Most of his life was lived in
0:25:53 > 0:26:01China. That's very special. So we just regard Mr Eric Liddell as a
0:26:01 > 0:26:08good friend. Is it true that in China people think of Eric Liddell
0:26:08 > 0:26:17as the first Chinese Olympic gold medallist? LAUGHTER It's not a joke,
0:26:17 > 0:26:26but we partly think he was the number one, the first golden medal
0:26:26 > 0:26:30winner, that was born in China. We are very proud of Mr Eric Liddell.
0:26:30 > 0:26:36And Weifang is doing Eric proud. The city's planning a new museum
0:26:36 > 0:26:41with his room in the internment camp re-created inside. A rare
0:26:41 > 0:26:46tribute from Communist China to a Christian missionary. There's
0:26:46 > 0:26:56nothing comparable in the UK. Outside China, the biggest memorial
0:26:56 > 0:27:03
0:27:03 > 0:27:07to Eric Liddell is the movie he inspired. The story of Eric and his
0:27:07 > 0:27:12great rival, Harold Abrahams, has been re-released in cinemas to
0:27:12 > 0:27:16coincide with the London Olympics. It will bring Eric's example to a
0:27:17 > 0:27:25new generation and it's clearly about more than what it takes to
0:27:25 > 0:27:34win gold. He was an ambassador, an ambassador for all that is - all
0:27:34 > 0:27:40that is good and modest and sweet and strong in the human character,
0:27:40 > 0:27:43and perhaps we can say too in the Scottish personality. I would love
0:27:43 > 0:27:46to see the Scottish Government sponsor some Eric Liddell
0:27:46 > 0:27:56scholarships. They needn't again just be about sport. They could be
0:27:56 > 0:27:58
0:27:58 > 0:28:04about the values, the sheer humanity that Eric displayed.
0:28:04 > 0:28:09influence Eric's had on Olympians has certainly been profound. After
0:28:09 > 0:28:15winning the 100, we had the press conference. We are in the press
0:28:15 > 0:28:23conference and I have to say it was an Englishman that stood up and he