Two British runners at the Olympic Games in 1924. One runs to show people he is as good as them. One says no to his best race. Both men were real.
Want more detail? Read this lesson at B2/C1 level →
These are the new words. Match each word (1–8) to its meaning (A–H). Say your answers out loud — "I think 1 is D" — then check.
1 = D (a race) · 2 = H (to train) · 3 = F (a coach) · 4 = C (a medal)
5 = G (to win) · 6 = B (proud) · 7 = A (to believe) · 8 = E (to refuse)
Hugh Hudson's Chariots of Fire (1981). Read each part. Then try the questions from memory, and talk about the last one. (There are spoilers — that is fine, we want to talk about it.)
England, 1919. Harold Abrahams is a young student at Cambridge University. His family is Jewish, and his father came to England from another country. Some people at the university are not kind to Harold. They do not say it, but he can feel it. So he decides: he will run faster than any man in England. He trains hard every day.
In Scotland there is another runner: Eric Liddell. He was born in China, because his parents worked there as missionaries. Eric is very fast too, but he runs for a different reason. Eric is a Christian, and he believes that God gave him this speed. For him, running fast is a way to say thank you. His sister is worried. She thinks sport is taking him away from his work for the church.
One day the two men run in the same race. Eric wins. Harold never loses — but this time he does, and he is not happy at all.
1. Why does Harold want to run faster than everybody?
2. Why does Eric run?
1. Because some people at the university are unkind to him and his Jewish family. He wants to show them that he is as good as them — or better.
2. He believes God gave him his speed, so running fast is a way of saying thank you. He also plans to work in China one day.
After he loses, Harold pays a coach called Sam Mussabini to help him. In 1924 this is a problem! At that time, people think a gentleman must train alone, for love of sport, and never pay anybody. Two important men from the university call Harold to their room. They speak very politely, but they tell him he is wrong. Harold refuses to change.
Both men go to the Olympic Games in Paris in 1924. Then Eric hears bad news. His race, the 100 metres, starts on a Sunday. For Eric, Sunday is God's day, and he does not run on Sunday. So he says no.
Everybody is angry. Important men, and even the Prince of Wales, talk to him. They say: your country needs you. Eric is a quiet man, but he does not change his mind. Then a team-mate, Lord Andrew Lindsay, has an idea. He gives Eric his place in a different race — the 400 metres — on another day. But 400 metres is much longer, and Eric never trains for it.
1. Why do people criticise Harold for having a coach?
2. Why does Eric refuse to run the 100 metres?
1. Because Sam Mussabini is a professional and Harold pays him. In 1924 people believe a gentleman must train alone and not pay anybody.
2. The race starts on a Sunday, and Eric believes Sunday is God's day. A team-mate gives him a place in the 400 metres instead.
On Sunday, Eric is not at the stadium. He is in a church in Paris, and he speaks to the people there. On Monday, Harold runs the 100 metres final. The stadium goes quiet. Harold wins! He is the first British man to win this race. But he does not feel happy. He sits alone and says nothing. His coach is not in the stadium, because professionals are not allowed, so Sam celebrates alone in his hotel room and cries.
A few days later, Eric runs the 400 metres. Somebody gives him a small piece of paper with a line about honour on it. Eric starts very, very fast. Everybody thinks he will get tired — but he does not. He wins, and he wins easily. The crowd stands up and shouts.
The two men go home to Britain. Everybody is proud of them. At the end, the film tells us what happened next. Eric Liddell went to China as a missionary. He died there in 1945, in a camp, during the war. Scotland was very sad.
1. How does Harold feel after he wins the 100 metres?
2. What happens in Eric's 400 metres race?
1. He wins, but he feels empty, not happy. He sits alone after the race. His coach is not allowed in the stadium.
2. He starts very fast, he does not get tired, and he wins easily. The crowd stands up and cheers.
This film is about routines: two men who train every single day for years. To talk about routines in English we use the present simple and small words like always, usually, often and never.
Put the word in brackets in the right place. Write the two missing words.
1. He gets up at six. (always) → He up at six.
2. She is late for practice. (never) → She late for practice.
3. They run in the park on Sundays. (often) → They in the park on Sundays.
1. always gets (before the main verb)
2. is never (after the verb "be")
3. often run (before the main verb)
Careful with he and she — you need -s. Then read the sentence out loud.
1. Eric (train) every morning before class.
2. Harold never (lose) to the same man twice.
3. They usually (finish) practice at six o'clock.
4. She (go) to church every Sunday.
1. trains (he / she / it + -s)
2. loses (still -s after "never")
3. finish ("they" — no -s)
4. goes (go → goes)
Write the frequency word and the verb together. Read it aloud when you finish.
Eric (train) every day. He (never / run) on Sunday, because he goes to church. Harold (usually / practise) in the afternoon, and he (always / listen) to his coach.
trains · never runs · usually practises · always listens
Remember: the frequency word goes before the main verb, and he / she still needs the -s.
Most of it is true. Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell were real men, and they really won two gold medals in Paris in 1924. But the most famous moment in the film did not happen.
The Olympic Games really started in Paris on 5 July 1924. Harold Abrahams won the 100 metres on Monday 7 July in 10.6 seconds. He was the first British man to win it. Eric Liddell won the 400 metres on Friday 11 July in 47.6 seconds — a new record. He also won a bronze medal in the 200 metres. All of that is exactly true.
In the film, Eric learns about the Sunday race on the boat to France, only a few days before. This is not true. The Olympic timetable was published months before the Games. Eric knew in the autumn of 1923 — about eight months early — that the 100 metres started on a Sunday. So he had a lot of time. He stopped training for the 100 metres and started training for the 400 metres instead.
The rest is true. The 100 metres really started on Sunday 6 July 1924, and Eric really did not run. He went to a church in Paris that day. Then, on the Friday, he ran the 400 metres from the outside lane, very fast from the start, and he won. Later he went back to China and worked there as a missionary. In 1943, during the war, Japanese soldiers put him in a camp. He died there on 21 February 1945, from a brain tumour. He was 43 years old.
The scene with the two important university men is invented. It never happened. But the unkind treatment of Harold was real: at school, people did not let him read in front of the other students, and a place to stay said no to him, because he was Jewish. His coach, Sam Mussabini, was also completely real. He was a professional, and the Olympic officials never gave him any prize or thank you for his work.
Two more changes. The famous run around the university courtyard is a real tradition — but Harold never did it. The first person to finish it was Lord Burghley, in 1927. And "Lord Andrew Lindsay", the man who gives Eric his place, is not a real person. The film made him from a real athlete, David Burghley, who did not want his own name in the film.
Do all three tasks out loud. Use the timer to keep talking.
Tell the story of Chariots of Fire in your own words. Use these steps to help you: a student who wants to show people he is as good as them → a Scottish runner who believes God gave him his speed → a coach, and people who say this is wrong → the race on a Sunday, and the word "no" → two gold medals in Paris.
Try to use some key words (race, train, coach, medal, win, proud, believe, refuse) and always / usually / often / never with the present simple: "He always trains before breakfast."
Eric says no to his best race, and a lot of important people are angry with him. Was he right? What would you do — run the race for your country, or say no? Say why.
Talk about routines and habits. Use always, usually, often, sometimes, never.
Not sure what to say? Choose one: