Harold Abrahams biography
Harold Abrahams, in full Harold Maurice Abrahams, (born Dec. 15, 1899, Bedford, England—died Jan. 14, 1978, London), British athlete who received a gold medal within the 100-metre sprint on the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris.
Abrahams was born into an athletic household; his older brother Sidney represented Great Britain within the Olympics in 1912. Abrahams participated within the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp however didn't win a gold medal. Competing for Cambridge University from 1920 to 1924, he received a collection of victories over Oxford in dash and lengthy leap occasions. In 1924 Abrahams started an intensive coaching program beneath the route of athletics coach Sam Mussabini. Just one month previous to the Olympics, Abrahams set a British file within the lengthy leap, though he most well-liked the dash and was excused from competing within the lengthy leap in Paris.
At the 1924 Olympics, Abrahams defeated closely favoured American opponents together with Jackson Scholz and Charles Paddock, the latter the defending Olympic champion and world file holder. His fundamental British rival within the dash, Eric Liddell, was a religious Christian and didn't run within the 100-metre occasion, which was held on a Sunday; Liddell as a substitute ran within the 400-metre, successful the gold medal. Abrahams shared a silver medal as a member of Britain’s 400-metre relay workforce. Liddell’s and Abrahams’ experiences on the 1924 Olympics supplied the topic of the 1981 movie Chariots of Fire, which emphasised Abrahams’ Judaism and portrayed his victory as a private overcome anti-Semitism.
Abrahams suffered an harm in 1925 that ended his athletic profession. He later turned an lawyer, radio broadcaster, and sports activities administrator, serving as chairman of the British Amateur Athletics Board from 1968 to 1975. He wrote extensively about athletics and authored plenty of books, together with The Olympic Games, 1896-1952.