Next year will mark the 100-year anniversary of the 1924 Paris Olympics. And quite appropriately, it will also be held in Paris this time. Several inspirational incidents such as Richard Williams winning gold in tennis after surviving the Titanic disaster were registered the last time the Olympics were held in Paris. Not least of it is the story of a Scottish missionary who registered his only gold medal in track and field. Initially designated to run the 100 meters, he later ran and won the 400 meters to avoid clashing with his religious beliefs.

Enshrined in the movie ‘Chariots of Fire’, the story of Eric Liddell and fellow British runner Harold Abrahams has served as an inspirational tale for nearly a century now. Catch the exact moment Eric Liddell won the gold medal.

Eric Liddell’s story is one for the ages

After traveling to Paris on a ship in 1924, Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams were in for stiff competition from American track and field athletics great Jackson Scholz. In the 1981 Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire, the climactic scene captured the breathtaking moment Liddell beat his opponents to clinch the gold medal at the 400-meter race.

An Olympics.com article shows the exact clip from the 99-year-old event when Liddell won the same. The caption read, “Eric Liddell at Paris 1924” with the clip showing what the event was like in 1924. However, Liddell wasn’t destined to run the 400-meter race to start off with. Eric Liddell was supposed to run the 100-meter race alongside Harold Abrahams. But a strange and unfortunate coincidence prevented him from participating in it.

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Liddell found out that the heats for the 100-meter race were scheduled on a Sunday. Liddell, a devout Christian, could not run that day as his religious beliefs prevented him from working on a Sunday. There was immense pressure from the Prince of Wales and the British Olympic Committee on Liddell to reconsider his decision. But Liddell refused. Thankfully, a solution was found at the last moment.

He beat the American favorite to win Olympic gold

Liddell’s teammate Lindsay, who had already won a silver medal in the 400 meters hurdles, offered to vacate his position in the 400 meters race for his friend. It was scheduled on a Thursday, hence not posing a problem for him, and thus opening up the opportunity for Liddell to prove his mettle. Liddell beat American athlete Horatio Fitch and British runner Guy Butler in the 2nd and 3rd positions respectively. In the movie, the American coach even dismissed Liddell’s chances of a win in front of his competitors.

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Eric Liddell proved him wrong and many others who doubted him. After the British triumphant team returned home, Liddell later moved to Japanese-occupied China to do missionary work. He passed away there. It’s been 42 years since Chariots of Fire was released, and Eric Liddell’s story still echoes in the sporting world.