Eric Liddell's Olympic Medals

I know, it's not a very good photo. I snapped these quickly on my way past rushing to a meeting. But I've been intending to blip these historic items that I pass most days of my working life during the Olympics and today, when the GB goldrush started again, seemed a good day. Given his starting point - which prevented him running on the Sabbath - I wonder what Eric Liddell's feelings would have been about women's boxing in the Olympics. For myself, I'm absolutely delighted - both about the sport being there and also about Nicola Adams winning the first ever gold medal. I had very mixed feelings (and in some ways still do, especially about professional boxing) until my son wanted to try boxing when he was about 12 years old. He asked me to buy him a punchbag for Christmas. I refused, but instead phoned the ABA and asked them to put me in touch with someone who ran a boxing club in our locality, which they duly did. After receiving many assurances, including about their unused insurance policy for young boxers, I let my son join and saw the positive benefits of involvement in the boxing club - in terms of fitness and discipline - which these offered him. Such benefits - and especially the confidence about being able to 'handle' yourself - are multiplied for young women. So I'm delighted to see women's boxing in the Olympic games and even more delighted to see a young woman from Leeds, the city we were then living in, win the gold medal.

But returning to Eric Liddell, his story goes well beyond the Chariots of Fire depiction of triumph in adversity for a Scots Christian and a British Jew, to include also his work in China and his death in a Japanese camp in 1945 from a brain tumour. He's certainly one of the University of Edinburgh's most distinguished alumni, and that's a pretty long list...