Humanity and Fair Play

Churchill’s Forgotten Olympics Speech

In a little-known speech made a century ago, Winston Churchill gave his strong support for raising funds that would enable British athletes to participate in the Olympics regardless of their socio-economic background. “We must plant ourselves upon the basis of the whole nation and give everyone a chance,” he said. Churchill went on to describe the character-building nature of sport and how through the Olympics these qualities could inspire the modern age.

Just in time for the 2024 Olympics, Churchill’s long-overlooked speech supporting an appeal to assist British athletes training for the1924 Olympics, also held in Paris, has come back to light at the Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge. In response to an inquiry made by the International Churchill Society to see if the archives held anything about Churchill and the Olympics, Director Allen Packwood found the complete notes of a speech Churchill delivered at the Mansion House in July 1923 supporting a fund appeal chaired by his close friend Lord Birkenhead.

Although Churchill’s speech was reported in The Times, which summarized some of his remarks, the full text has never been published. It was not included in the collection of Churchill’s complete speeches edited by Robert Rhodes James or in the official biography by Sir Martin Gilbert. The speech notes were long ago catalogued as part of the holdings of the Churchill Archives but appear to have been neglected by historians. “Churchill made the speech during a two-year period when he was out of Parliament,” explained Packwood, “which may be the reason for the oversight.” He added that “the centenary of the 1924 Olympics, immortalized in the Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire, makes this a perfect moment for recovering Churchill’s thoughts about the world’s most prestigious athletic competition.”

In his remarks, Churchill notes that British athletes were busy preparing themselves for Paris and that, “the only question at issue is whether they are to be properly supported by their fellow-countrymen and given a fair chance to do credit to the British name.” He goes on to observe that Britain’s record of performance in past Olympic Games did not compare well with other nations: “Since 1896 they have been held six times, and out of the sixty-five principal events Great Britain has won only eight, while our American cousins on the other hand have won forty-seven….This cannot be considered creditable to this country, which after all for generations has been the home of modern sport and the birthplace of nearly all the principal games which are now played throughout the world.”

Especially noteworthy is that Churchill believed that Britain needed to raise: “the funds necessary to secure an equal opportunity for our men….We must be in a position to make sure that when our country competes in Olympic Games, real native merit shall not be excluded from our representation because those who prove that merit are poor.”

In a particularly stirring passage, Churchill extols the virtues of sportsmanship and gives good reason for supporting the modern Olympics: “The ideal conception of the sportsman-athlete curbing his passions, denying himself indulgences, leading a strict, clean, temperate life, enduring with fortitude the trials of the contest, loyal even in moments of intense strain and excitement to the underlying conceptions of humanity and fair play, courteous and self-respecting alike in victory and defeat—surely that ideal is one which it is worthwhile to raise high above the confusion of this crowded modern age, and surely in that work our countrymen should bear their part.”

“This previously overlooked gem written by my great-grandfather more than a century ago is the perfect message for our nation and the world to hear at this time,” said Randolph Churchill, President of the International Churchill Society. “It perfectly illustrates his love of country and the virtues he championed.”

Quotations from Sir Winston Churchill reproduced courtesy Curtis Brown, London (to which all media inquiries should be directed) on behalf of the Estate of Winston S. Churchill.

Bulletin #195 — Aug 2024