My last years speech

A great man who Excelled at sport, who knew what was Right, who has Inspired many people and who wasn’t afraid to be Controversial. Imagine a man flying down a rugby field like an eagle, scoring the try and winning the game. This is what a Scottish man did and I am going to tell you why Britain called Eric Liddell the flying scotsman and why he is the person from the past that I would most like to meet!

To begin with Eric Liddell loved two things that I also love - rugby and running. He was a great man because he loved, loved, loved to run and he was impossible to beat. Eric excelled in rugby and he played for Scotland but his real passion was running because he was so fast.

Secondly Eric Liddell had very strong beliefs. He wouldn’t run on a Sunday and had to give up his chance for a gold medal at the 1924 Olympic Games. He chose to do what he thought was right even when other people thought he was wrong. He put his beliefs first and chose not to run.

To further support my speech Eric Liddell showed amazing courage and strength, like in one of his races he was pushed over and went from first place to last place but he got up and ran like the wind and won the race!!! Like I said before, at the Olympic Games he would not run in the 100m race on a Sunday, instead Eric ran the 400m race on a Tuesday. Even though he hadn't trained for that event he got a place. But... he didn't come 3rd, or even 4th. NO, he came 1st. And what a great triumph for the British Team to take home a gold medal!!!

Lastly Eric Liddell put other  people first. Even though he was a champion  he chose to put running aside and spent the rest of his life helping others by working as a missionary in China. Sadly he was a young man when he was taken to a prisoner of war camp during World War 2 and died there at the age of 43 of a brain tumour.   

I was a little bit sad that Eric Liddell died so young. In some ways we are the same. We are both fast, we have both come first in a race and we both have the same beliefs. He certainly is a man who I would love to meet.  And that is why I chose him, because Eric was a great runner, but he was also a great man.  He knew what he believed, he always did the right thing and he put other people first.