This summer, thousands of athletes will compete in Paris with seemingly a united goal, to win gold for their country. 100 years ago in Paris, two world-class sprinters lined up with two very different perspectives on why achieving that gold medal was important.
Englishman Harold Abrahams ran the 100m, winning the gold medal after his great rival Eric Liddell withdrew due to the heats being scheduled on a Sunday. Liddell would go on to run his less-favoured event, the 400m, win and redefine the event forever.
In the film Chariots of Fire, Abrahams says: ‘In one hour’s time … I will raise my eyes and look down the corridor – four feet wide, with ten lonely seconds to justify my whole existence. But will I?’
