- Harold Abrahams
Harold Maurice Abrahams, CBE (
December 15 ,1899 –January 14 ,1978 ) was a British athlete. He was Olympic champion in 1924 in the 100 metre sprint, a feat depicted in the 1981 movie "Chariots of Fire ".Biography
Born into a poor family in
Bedford as the son of a Lithuanian Jew, [ [http://www.times-olympics.co.uk/historyheroes/stgbo01.html History and Heroes from every Olympic Games since 1896; Sunday Times Great British Olympians ] ] he was the younger brother of another British athlete, the Olympiclong jump er SirSidney Abrahams . He was educated atBedford School ,Repton School and then at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, before training as a lawyer.A sprinter and long jumper since his youth, he continued to compete in sport while studying at
Cambridge . He earned a place in the 1920 Olympic team. These games were no great success for Abrahams who was eliminated in the quarter-finals of both the 100m and 200m, and he finished twentieth in the long jump. As a part of the British relay team, he took fourth place in the 4 x 100 m. After dominating the national long jump and sprint events, Abrahams was an outsider for the medals at the 1924 Olympics inParis ,France . HoweverEric Liddell [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotland/asportingnation/article/0019/print.shtml BBC biography of Eric Liddell] ] introduced Abrahams to a professional coach,Sam Mussabini [ [http://www.sportinglife.com/olympics/best_of_british/story_get.dor?STORY_NAME=others/00/08/22/OLYMPICS_Abrahams.html Sporting Life - Olympics 2000 ] ] , and Abrahams, with the encouragement of his brother, employed him.For six months, Mussabini at Abrahams' direction emphasized the 100-metre, with the 200-metre as secondary. Through vigorous training, Abrahams perfected his start, stride, and form. One month before the 1924 Games, Abrahams set the English record in the long jump (24'2 1/2"/7,37 m), a record which stood for the next 32 years. The same day he ran the 100-yard in 9.6 seconds, but the time was rightly not submitted as a record because the track was on a slight downhill [http://www.jewsinsports.org/olympics.asp?ID=511 Uc_Hilal : Jews In Sports @ Virtual Museum ] ] .Abrahams won the 100m, beating all the American favourites (including the 1920 Gold medal winner
Charlie Paddock ). In third place wasArthur Porritt , laterGovernor-General of New Zealand . The Paris Olympics 100m dash took place at 7pm on7 July ,1924 (Abrahams and Porritt dined together at 7pm on7 July every year thereafter, until Abrahams' death). In the 200 metre race, he reached the final, in which he placed sixth and last. (Eric Liddell also ran the 200m and finished in third place). As an opening runner for the 4 x 100 m team, Abrahams won a second Olympic medal, a silver. Abrahams did not compete in the long jump.In May 1925, Abrahams broke his leg and his athletic career ended. He returned to his legal career. Subsequently he worked as an athletics journalist for forty years, becoming a commentator on the sports for
BBC radio . In 1936, he reported from theNazi Berlin Olympics for the BBC. Later in his life, he also become the president of the "Jewish Athletic Association ". And he latterly served as the chairman for theAmateur Athletic Association . Abrahams converted toRoman Catholicism in 1934. [Murray Frymer,San Jose Mercury , 30 October 1981, p. 45.]Harold Abrahams died in Enfield on
14 January 1978 , aged 78 years. He was buried at Saint John the Baptist Churchyard inGreat Amwell ,Hertfordshire . [ [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6378561 Harold Abrahams (1899 - 1978) - Find A Grave Memorial ] ]Harold Abrahams has been recognised with an
English Heritage Blue Plaque at his former home inGolders Green , north west London which was unveiled by his daughter Sue Pottle and nephew Tony Abrahams. He lived at Hodford Lodge, 2 Hodford Road, from 1923 to 1930, years in which he achieved great success including his famous 1924 Olympics win in Paris for the 100m sprint.Abrahams was immortalised in the 1981 film "
Chariots of Fire ", which won fourAcademy Awards , including Best Picture. His memorial service serves as the framing device for the movie, which tells his story and that ofEric Liddell . He was inducted into theInternational Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1981.Abrahams was highly respected. The late
Guinness Book of World Records founderNorris McWhirter once commented that Abrahams "managed by sheer force of personality and with very few allies to raise athletics from a minor to a major national sport”.Quotations
*"I have always believed that Harold Abrahams was the only European sprinter who could have run with
Jesse Owens , Joe Candito,Ralph Metcalfe , and the other great sprinters from the U.S. He was in their class, not only because of natural gifts - his magnificent physique, his splendid racing temperament, his flair for the big occasion - but because he understood athletics and had given more brainpower and more will power to the subject than any other runner of his day." -Philip Noel-Baker , Britain's 1912 Olympic captain and a Nobel Prize winner, reflecting in 1948 on Abrahams' athleticism.References
External links
* [http://www.jewishsports.net/biopages/HaroldMauriceAbrahams.htm Bio at Jewish Sports]
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