Sprinter Eric Liddell's enduring legacy

Patricia Liddell Russell holding painting given to her father by a Chinese artist.

In 2002, The Scottish Sports Hall of Fame held its first ceremony. Sprinter, Eric Liddell, was the public’s favourite for the most popular sporting hero Scotland ever produced.

While his running and rugby achievements were legendary in Scotland, it was Liddell’s triumphs at the 1924 Paris Olympics that the rest of the world remembers – in great part due to the 1981 Oscar-winning film, Chariots of Fire and a number of documentaries that followed.

I recently sat down with Patricia Liddell Russell in her Oakville home to find out more about The Flying Scotsman born in Tianjin, China (1902) into a missionary family. And, I thought I’d share what I found out about not only his life as an athlete, but also the years after his Olympic wins.

While studying science at the University of Edinburgh, Eric was an integral part of the track, rugby, and cricket teams. So much so, that he was chosen to represent Britain at the 1924 Paris Olympics running the 100 and 200-meter sprints.

The 100-meter race was his forte, but when Eric found out the heats were being held on Sunday, July 6 – the Christian Sabbath – he opted instead to compete in the 400-meter sprint.

Not only did he win gold, but he set an Olympic and world record of 46.7 seconds. Eric also took home a bronze for the 200-meter race as well.

It was a win for the British team, but also for Scotland, and some would say, because Eric was born and died in Tianjin, China he was China’s first Olympic athlete to bring home gold.

Following the Olympics, Eric graduated from university and returned to Tianjin to begin his missionary work that would continue until 1943.

It was during his time in Tianjin that Eric met Florence Mackenzie the eldest daughter of Canadian missionaries stationed in China.

In 1926, 15-year-old Florence had just returned with her family to Tianjin after a leave in Canada. Typically, missionaries serve seven-year terms before returning home to share their experiences with local congregations.

Eric, nine years older than Florence, immediately fell in love. However, he not only waited for Florence to graduate high school, but insisted that she continue her education. So, the two married on March 27, 1934 in Tianjin after Florence completed nursing training at Toronto General Hospital.

In 1935 Patricia was born followed by Heather in 1937. The entire family it turns out, was born in Tianjin.

Furloughed in 1939, the family sailed to Canada to visit Florence’s family in Toronto. Eric then sailed on to Scotland alone touring Scotland to speak with congregations about the work he carried out for the London Missionary Society.

Later, Florence and the girls travelled by ship to Liverpool and then took the train to Edinburgh to spend the summer with her father’s family. Patricia remembers it as being a fabulous time.

In September 1940, the family travelled in a convoy of ships from Scotland back to Canada. Some of the ships were torpedoed and sank. The rest of the ships scattered as fast as they could. Patricia remembers her father being fabulous at distracting her and Heather and keeping things light.

After a visit with the Toronto relatives, they sailed back to China.

Tensions had been rising between the Chinese and Japanese governments and a war was raging in Europe. Eric decided it would be best to send his family to Toronto. As soon as his next furlough started, he would join them there.

Eric put his family on one of last boats to leave China in 1941. He believed a Japanese ship was the safest choice and by June 1941 they had arrived in Toronto.

On September 16, 1941 Maureen was born. Then, on December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service bombed Pearl Harbour and everything changed.

Missionaries in China lived in compounds that were sectioned into areas housing the French, British, and Americans. There was a hospital, businesses, and servants. Eric soon found himself under a year-long house arrest.

In 1943, he was moved to a Japanese civilian internment camp in Wei Hsien village – now a major city known as Weifang. The camp, located inside a former Presbyterian mission, had a hospital and residences, but everything had been stripped bare.

Over 1,500 professionals, missionaries, musicians, students, and civilians were all trying to survive hot summers and cold winters without enough food, medicines or basic supplies in an area the size of a football field.

Everyone divided up the chores including education, sports, food, discipline and religion. Luckily the camp had a piano, so there was singing, choirs, concerts, and dancing.

At one point the Catholic priests were sent away to make room for 200 children accompanied by only their teachers.

Eric had earned a Bachelor of Science Degree before being ordained as a minister of the Congregational Union of Scotland. He put that to use writing a text book from memory on bits of paper so students could continue their studies.

In May of 1945, Florence got word that Eric should be arriving in Toronto very soon. Instead, on May 11^th two representatives from the United Church of Canada brought news that Eric had died from a brain tumour on February 21, 1945 -- the same day he penned his last letter to his wife.

By January of 1946, Florence had returned to nursing at Toronto General Hospital and rented the upstairs of a house. Her daughters were now 10, 8 and 4.

The family moved a lot. In fact, Patricia attended three schools in grade five, but Florence kept them together.

Florence remarried when Patricia was 16 years old. Murray, a widower and family friend, had three teenagers of his own. That’s when the Patricia and her sisters moved to the farm in Binbrook, Ontario.

Three years later Patricia became big sister to Jeannie, her half-sister and not long after, followed in her mother’s footsteps becoming a nurse.

Over the years Patricia and her siblings have taken part in celebrations of their father’s accomplishments hosted by the Scottish and Chinese governments.

The Wei Hsien camp was made into a memorial. It contains a stone maker erected in 1990 to commemorate Eric’s resting place.

A decade ago, Patricia returned to the camp when a statue of Eric in mid-stride was placed beside the stone marker.

In 1980, The Eric Liddell Community (ELC) was established in the former Morningside North Parish Church in Edinburgh which Eric often attended.

The charity operates a Community Hub that provides caring services including dementia day services, support for unpaid care givers, and music therapy.

The hub also offers a wide variety of classes including yoga, crochet, and water colour painting for community members to enjoy.

Patricia and her husband, Mervyn Russel, are in Edinburgh at the moment. As the guests of ELC they will be attending the July 5th fundraising dinner to raise money for next year’s celebration, The Eric Liddell 100.

Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal (Princess Anne) will be attending the dinner as she has agreed to be the Patron for the year-long celebration of the 100^th anniversary of Eric Liddell’s exceptional performance at the 1924 Olympics.

Of course, Patricia and Mervyn have been invited back next summer.