On 14
July 1923, a so-called Triangular Contest track meet between Scotland, England
and Ireland was held at the Victoria football ground, Stoke. Here at
the first bend in a 440 yard race, the noted Scottish runner and
future Olympic gold medallist, Eric Liddell, tripped over the legs of
the English runner J. J. Gillies, falling off the track. By the time
he was back on his feet the other runners were 20 yards away and
moving fast but Liddell moved up the field with such speed that he
finally gained the lead. Though pressured by Irish National
University runner Sean Lavin, Liddell held onto the lead and won the
race before collapsing, utterly spent, from what the Sentinel
called his 'almost superhuman effort'. Gillies meantime, had been
disqualified for 'boring' - i.e., pushing other competitors in order
to try to get them out of the way. The basic details of the race were
later adapted into one of the most dramatic scenes in the film
Chariots
of Fire,
in which Liddell is accidentally knocked down by a French competitor,
but against all odds still manages to win. However, this scene was
filmed at the more picturesque Goldenacre Stadium, the playing fields
of George Heriot's School in Edinburgh.
Reference: Staffordshire
Sentinel
14 July 1923.