Chariots of Fire is an annual relay race, initiated in 1991, that takes place in Cambridge, England. It was inspired by the 1981 film Chariots of Fire , which takes place at the University of Cambridge and depicts the Great Court Run.
Each team of the annual race consists of six runners who must complete six laps through the historic city streets. Runners are sponsored and the money goes to charity. Over 400 teams enter each year. In 2006, the event celebrated its 15th anniversary. [1]
Chariots of Fire is a 1981 British historical sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland, and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell: a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice. Ben Cross and Ian Charleson star as Abrahams and Liddell, alongside Nigel Havers, Ian Holm, John Gielgud, Lindsay Anderson, Cheryl Campbell, Alice Krige, Brad Davis, and Dennis Christopher in supporting roles. Kenneth Branagh makes his debut in a minor role.
Harold Maurice Abrahams was an English track and field athlete. He was Olympic champion in 1924 in the 100 metres sprint, a feat depicted in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire.
A relay race is a racing competition where members of a team take turns completing parts of racecourse or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games. Relay races are common in running, orienteering, swimming, cross-country skiing, biathlon, or ice skating. In the Olympic Games, there are several types of relay races that are part of track and field. Relay race, also called Relay, a track-and-field sport consisting of a set number of stages (legs), usually four, each leg run by a different member of a team. The runner finishing one leg is usually required to pass the next runner a stick-like object known as a "baton" while both are running in a marked exchange zone. In most relays, team members cover equal distances: Olympic events for both men and women are the 400-metre and 1,600-metre relays. Some non-Olympic relays are held at distances of 800 m, 3,200 m, and 6,000 m. In the less frequently run medley relays, however, the athletes cover different distances in a prescribed order—as in a sprint medley of 200, 200, 400, 800 metres or a distance medley of 1,200, 400, 800, 1,600 metres.
Chariot racing was one of the most popular ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine sports. Chariot racing was dangerous to both drivers and horses as they often suffered serious injury and even death. These dangers added to the excitement and interest for spectators. Chariot races could also be watched by women, who were banned from watching many other sports. In the ancient Olympic Games, as well as the other Panhellenic Games, the sport was one of the most important equestrian events. Each chariot held a single driver and was usually pulled by four horses.
Eric Henry Liddell was a Scottish sprinter, rugby player, and Christian missionary. Born in Qing China to Scottish missionary parents, he attended boarding school near London, spending time when possible with his family in Edinburgh, and afterwards attended the University of Edinburgh.
Great Court is the main court of Trinity College, Cambridge, and reputed to be the largest enclosed courtyard in Europe.
Douglas Gordon Arthur Lowe was a British double Olympic Games champion, winning gold medals in 1924 and 1928. On both occasions he set British 800-metres records of 1:52.4 and 1:51.8 respectively, the latter also being an Olympic record.
David George Brownlow Cecil, 6th Marquess of Exeter KCMG OLY, styled Lord Burghley before 1956 and also known as David Burghley, was an English athlete, sports official, peer, and Conservative Party politician. He won the gold medal in the 400 m hurdles at the 1928 Summer Olympics.
Ekiden (駅伝) is a long-distance running multi-stage relay race, mostly held on roads.
The Speedway World Cup is an annual speedway event held each year in different countries. The first edition of the competition in the current format was held in 2001 and replaced the old World Team Cup which ran from 1960 until 2000. The last edition was in 2017. Since 2018, the World Cup was replaced by the Speedway of Nations, which effectively brought back the pairs format. However, in 2023 the World Cup will return.
Cambridge University Hare and Hounds (CUH&H) is the University of Cambridge cross country running club. It has been providing training and competitions for its members since 7 February 1880. The club's activities take place in multiple locations, with the University's track facilities at Wilberforce Road off Madingley Road; road training around the West Cambridge site; and off-road routes in the nearby countryside and parks, including Jesus Green and Grantchester Meadows in Cambridge, England. Past members include the 1956 Olympic Steeplechase gold medallist Chris Brasher, England international Bruce Tulloh, the Australian miler Herb Elliott, scientist Alan Turing, top 1,500m runner Andrew Baddeley,, 2012 Summer Olympics & World Triathlon Champion Alistair Brownlee, and all-time legend of the sport Hamilton Allport.
The ancient Olympic Games were a series of athletic competitions among representatives of city-states and one of the Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece. They were held in honor of Zeus, and the Greeks gave them a mythological origin. The first Olympic Games are traditionally dated to 776 BC. The games were held every four years, or Olympiad, which became a unit of time in historical chronologies. They continued to be celebrated when Greece came under Roman rule, 2nd century BC. Their last recorded celebration was in AD 393, under the emperor Theodosius I, but archeological evidence indicates that some games were still held after this date. The games likely came to an end under Theodosius II, possibly in connection with a fire that burned down the temple of the Olympian Zeus during his reign.
Evelyn Aubrey Montague was an English athlete and journalist. He ran in the 1924 Paris Olympics, placing sixth in the steeplechase race. Montague is immortalised in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire, where he is portrayed by Nicholas Farrell. Contrary to the film, however, he attended Oxford, not Cambridge, and went by the name Evelyn (EEV-lin) rather than Aubrey.
Chariots of Fire is a 2012 stage adaptation of the 1981 Oscar-winning film of the same name. Production of the Olympic-themed play, which opened at London's Hampstead Theatre 9 May 2012 and transferred to the West End on 23 June 2012, was partially inspired by the 2012 London Summer Olympics.
The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons is the 23rd season of the MTV reality game show, The Challenge. Although sharing the same name as the show's 5th season, Battle of the Seasons, unlike other sequel seasons is not distinguished as part "II" as the Season has a completely different format. The season took place in Bodrum, Turkey and Swakopmund & Windhoek, Namibia.
The 151st Boat Race took place on 27 March 2005. Oxford won the race by two lengths in a time of 16 minutes 41 seconds. The race, umpired by the six-time Boat Race winner Boris Rankov, featured seven Olympic rowers. It was the first time the event was broadcast in the United Kingdom on ITV.
The 150th Boat Race took place on 28 March 2004. Cambridge won by six lengths after a race with several clashes of oars. Oxford's appeal for a re-row upon the conclusion of the race was rejected by umpire James Behrens. The event was sponsored for the final time by Aberdeen Asset Management and broadcast in the United Kingdom by the BBC.
The 154th Boat Race took place on 29 March 2008. Held annually, the event is a side-by-side rowing race between crews from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge along the River Thames. Oxford won the race. Oxford's crew featured the oldest competitor in Boat Race history. The race took place in very difficult weather conditions – strong winds and heavy rain – resulting in the slowest winning time in over sixty years. Oxford won by six lengths, the largest margin of victory since the 2004 race.
Integral is a British Thoroughbred racehorse. Unraced as a two-year-old, she was a Group 3 winner at three when finishing in a dead heat for first place in the Atalanta Stakes. In 2014 she won the Duke of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot, before scoring her first Group One in her next race, the Falmouth Stakes. She went on to record a second Group One success in the Sun Chariot Stakes. In 2015 she failed to win but finished second in the Sun Chariot Stakes and fourth in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.
The Boat Race 2020 was a side-by-side rowing race scheduled to take place on 29 March 2020. Held annually, The Boat Race is contested between crews from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge along a 4.2-mile (6.8 km) tidal stretch of the River Thames in south-west London. This would have been the 75th women's race and the 166th men's race, and for the fifth time in the history of the event, the men's, women's and both reserves' races would have been held on the Tideway on the same day. Cambridge led the longstanding rivalry 84–80 and 44–30 in the men's and women's races, respectively.