Scottish Stories - Stories in the Style of Godly Play
The Story of Eric Liddell
Eric Liddell was a Scottish sprinter, rugby player, and Christian missionary. Although he was born in Tianjin, North China, Eric had strong links to Scotland and Edinburgh. He studied at the University of Edinburgh, represented Scotland in Rugby and Athletics, lived and taught in Edinburgh.
At the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, Liddell refused to run in the heats for his favoured 100 metres 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 serve as a missionary teacher. Aside from two furloughs in Scotland, he remained in China until his death in a Japanese civilian internment camp in 1945.
The Story of Eric Liddell, written in the style of Godly Play has been developed as part of The Eric Liddell 100 - a celebration to mark the 100th anniversary of Eric Liddell's historic gold medal and world record for the 400m race at the Paris Olympics in 1924.
We have a script, resources to lend and you can watch the story on YouTube.
The Story of Eric Liddell - click to download the script