Evelyn Aubrey Montague

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Evelyn Aubrey Montague (20 March 1900 – 30 January 1948) 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.

England Country in north-west Europe, part of the United Kingdom

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to the west and Scotland to the north-northwest. The Irish Sea lies west of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.

Steeplechase (athletics) obstacle race in athletics

The steeplechase is an obstacle race in athletics, which derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing. The foremost version of the event is the 3000 metres steeplechase. The 2000 metres steeplechase is the next most common distance. The 1900 Olympics featured a 2500 metres steeplechase and a 4000 metres steeplechase, and a 2590 metres steeplechase was held at the 1904 Olympics. A 1000 metres steeplechase is occasionally used in youth athletics.

<i>Chariots of Fire</i> 1981 film by Hugh Hudson

Chariots of Fire is a 1981 British historical drama film. It tells the fact-based story of two 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.

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Early life and family

Evelyn Montague was born in 1900 in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Lancashire. He was the son of journalist and novelist C. E. Montague and Madeline Scott, and the grandson of C. P. Scott, the legendary editor of the Manchester Guardian .

Chorlton-cum-Hardy suburban area of the city of Manchester, England

Chorlton-cum-Hardy is a suburban area of Manchester, England, four miles (6.4 km) southwest of the city centre. Chorlton ward had a population of 14,138 at the 2011 census, and Chorlton Park 15,147.

Lancashire County of England

Lancashire is a ceremonial county in North West England. The administrative centre is Preston. The county has a population of 1,449,300 and an area of 1,189 square miles (3,080 km2). People from Lancashire are known as Lancastrians.

C. P. Scott British journalist, publisher and politician

Charles Prestwich Scott, usually cited as C. P. Scott, was a British journalist, publisher and politician. Born in Bath, Somerset, he was the editor of the Manchester Guardian from 1872 until 1929 and its owner from 1907 until his death. He was also a Liberal Member of Parliament and pursued a progressive liberal agenda in the pages of the newspaper.

Montague married in 1932. He and his wife had one child, a son named Andy.

Athletic and journalism careers

A runner from youth, in 1918 Montague won the mile and the steeplechase at the London AC Schools meeting. Beginning in 1919, he attended Oxford University at Magdalen College, where he studied journalism. He was captain of Oxford's Varsity Cross Country Club, [1] and won the cross-country race against Cambridge (1919–20), and the 3 miles (1920–21).

Magdalen College, Oxford constituent college of the University of Oxford in England

Magdalen College is one of the wealthiest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, with an estimated financial endowment of £180.8 million as of 2014.

In 1920, Montague was a founding member of the Achilles Club, the joint Oxford–Cambridge track and field organisation. At the age of 20, he finished fourth in the mile and second in the 4 miles at the 1920 AAA Championships. He was invited to run in the 1920 Olympic 5K, but was unable to accept. From 1921 on, he concentrated on the steeplechase, and finished second in that race at the AAA Championships (1921, 1924–25).

The Achilles Club is a track and field club formed in 1920 by and for past and present representatives of Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Members have won 19 Olympic Gold Medals, and held 38 World Records. One of its founding members was Evelyn Aubrey Montague, who is immortalized in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire.

Montague was selected for the 1924 Olympic team for Great Britain. At the Games, he placed sixth in the 3000 metre steeplechase, as shown in the film Chariots of Fire, with a time of 9.58.0, coming in 0.4 seconds after the fifth-place runner. [2]

1924 Summer Olympics games of the VIII Olympiad, celebrated in Paris, France in 1924

The 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1924 in Paris, France.

After the Paris Olympics, Montague went into newspaper journalism. He spent two years as a journalist in Chile, returning to England in 1928. He had one final season on the track in 1930, during which he finished third in the Northern Counties steeplechase.

Chile republic in South America

Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a South American country occupying a long, narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far south. Chilean territory includes the Pacific islands of Juan Fernández, Salas y Gómez, Desventuradas, and Easter Island in Oceania. Chile also claims about 1,250,000 square kilometres (480,000 sq mi) of Antarctica, although all claims are suspended under the Antarctic Treaty.

Northern England Place in England

Northern England, also known as the North of England or simply the North, is the northern part of England, considered as a single cultural area. It extends from the Scottish border in the north to near the River Trent in the south, although precise definitions of its southern extent vary. Northern England approximately comprises three statistical regions: the North East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber. These have a combined population of around 14.9 million as of the 2011 Census and an area of 37,331 km2. Northern England contains much of England's national parkland but also has large areas of urbanisation, including the conurbations of Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Teesside, Tyneside, Wearside, and South and West Yorkshire.

Montague travelled to the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics to cover those controversial games as a journalist. [3] During World War II, he became a distinguished war correspondent. He also served as the athletics correspondent of the Manchester Guardian from 1926–47, and was appointed its London editor in 1945.

Montague was the joint organiser — together with javelin champion, Olympic coach and author F. A. M. Webster — of the first AAA Summer Schools at Loughborough.

During the WWII Italian campaign, Montague contracted tuberculosis. He died from the disease in 1948, in North Walsham, Norfolk.

Personal bests

Montague's personal best running times were:

Chariots of Fire

Despite the depiction in the film Chariots of Fire , Montague attended Oxford and Harold Abrahams attended Cambridge, and although they were both Achilles Club members, they were university rivals. Montague wrote his mother after an Oxford–Cambridge race: "Cambridge won. They chaired Harold Abrahams from the track, and I was just waiting for them to drop him on his arse."

In the years following the Olympics, when Montague and Abrahams were active on athletics boards, they became very good friends, and Abrahams was the godfather of Montague's only child. Montague also accompanied Abrahams, who was an official correspondent for the occasion, to the controversial and potentially dangerous (for Abrahams) Nazi-dominated 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics. [3]

Montague played an important role in the making of Chariots of Fire. He had written daily letters to his mother describing his years at Oxford, his athletic training, and the Olympic competition. His son, after reading screenwriter Colin Welland's query article in a London newspaper, offered them to Welland — who used them, and Montague, as a means to introduce scenes and connect events in the film.

See also

Sources

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References

  1. ↑ Molden, Simon. Oxford University Cross Country Club: Varsity History.
  2. ↑ 1924 Olympic Games: Mens Results Sporting-Heroes.net
  3. 1 2 Ryan (2012), pp. 215–220, 228–229.
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