Eric Liddell was a gifted athlete who used his ability to honor God in his home country of Scotland and as a missionary to China. His parents, James and Mary Liddell, were Scottish missionaries to China and as a result, Eric did not see his native homeland of Scotland until he was five years old. His parents were missionaries for the London Missionary Society and Eric the early part of his childhood growing up on the Siao Chang compound in North China. Eric’s entire family spent a year on furlough in Scotland, but when the time came for James and Mary Liddell to return to China his parent s decided to leave Eric and Robert at a boarding school in England. Eric attended Eltham College until he was nineteen where he learned to enjoy sports and earn good grades. After graduating from Eltham, Eric pursued a…show more content… His parents returned home on another furlough the same time he began to attend Edinburgh, so he enjoyed the luxury of spending the evenings with his family who lived nearby and attending the University. While attending the University Eric would awe the world with his running ability. Eric’s friend Bill Harvey wanted to be a coach, so he began to train Eric to run in track competitions such as the 100-yard dash and other various sprinting competitions. Eric won the 100-yard dash in the University Athletic Sports competition and from then on he began to compete in increasing larger track competitions. He entered the Scottish University Sports Competition competing against other athletes from universities across Scotland. Again Eric placed first in the 100-yard dash. “In two track and field competitions, Eric Liddell had proved himself to be a top athlete, and the more he ran, the more he won.” Eric also was and excellent rugby player and was a valued team player by the Edinburg University team. As Eric was rising as a sports star in running and rugby he began to be followed from game to game by and an increasing number of fans. David Thomson saw Eric’s
