Despite having virtually no experience of running the longer race before the start of 1924, he hurtled his way around the track with his head back and arms flailing to win by four metres in a record time of 47.6 seconds.

The reason for that was Liddell’s great commitment to his faith, which led him to turn his back on fame and fortune and return to China as a missionary a year after his Paris triumph.

He continued to race in China and helped establish a facility in Tianjin modelled on his favourite running track at Stamford Bridge in London.

After the Japanese invasion of the late 1930s, he worked tirelessly to help the people of China, Keddie said, staying on even after Japan went to war with Britain in 1941.