Two “Liddell” stories 100 years apart; “Ken” you believe it!

I have already written once about running. I have also alluded to the fact that I am a sports fan. And the Olympics are in full swing. So, I’m going to run with this theme and tie a classic sports film in with a current event from this year’s Olympics. 

In 1981, the Oscar for best picture went to the movie, “Chariots of Fire.” To this day, running on the beach is one of my favorite things to do at the beach because of the opening scene from this movie. There’s also the theme song which is a moving piece of music. The movie is based on true events (and a book about those events by the same title is also a great read!)  follows the experience of the British track team leading up to the 1924 Olympics (which also took place in Paris, how about that!!), specifically, Harold Abrams, a Jewish man and Eric Liddell, a devoted Christian. There are many great takeaways from the movie that I could highlight, but for now, I will focus on a race that takes place prior to the Olympics. It is a race that Eric Liddell is running and during the opening moments of the race, he falls down. Now, as a physical therapist, falling is something I try to help people avoid. As a track athlete, a fall can often cost you the chance to win. For Eric Liddell, he proceeded to get up from the fall, kick into high gear and win the race. He went on to compete in the Olympics, but being a devout Christian, he did not run on Sunday. Another athlete ended up giving up his spot in a different race that took place on a different day, so Eric ran that race and won the gold medal.

Fast forward 100 years to this year’s Olympic trials for the men’s steeplechase. This is a race run around a track with obstacles that must be jumped over, including water. During the qualifying race, a runner by the name of Kenneth Rooks fell during the beginning portion of the race. He picked himself up and proceeded to run again and ended up winning the race, earning a qualifying spot in the Olympics. Someone said that Rooks was ranked #571 in the world as a steeplechase runner, but he qualified for the Olympics and subsequently made it to the medal race, the only American to do so. He did not fall during this race, but was in the back of the pack for most of the race. During the final lap, Rooks made a move and led for the majority of the last lap. He earned Silver as the previous winner of the steeplechase race (Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco) passed Rooks during the final sprint to the finish. 

Maybe Rooks’ race was  not as prestigious as Eric Liddell winning gold, but a silver medal at the Olympics is pretty impressive. The parallels between these 2 are pretty amazing. I’ll highlight a few here:

-Both fell during races leading up the Olympic games and subsequently won the race they fell during

-Both are devout Christians

-Both participated in the Olympics in Paris (100 years apart)

Sometimes, movies and stories are told in a dramatic way which is great. But sometimes, the story is already there and we just get to witness it happen before our eyes. For both Liddell and Rooks, the drama unfolded of its own accord and I am just glad to have been able to witness one of these stories during my lifetime.