Harold Abrahams

Harold Abrahams

Harold Abrahams in 1921
Personal information
Full name	Harold Maurice Abrahams
Nationality	British
Born	(1899-12-15)15 December 1899 Bedford, Bedfordshire, England
Died	14 January 1978(1978-01-14) (aged 78) Enfield, London, England
Alma mater	Cambridge University
Occupation	Lawyer, journalist
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight	165 lb (75 kg)
Spouse(s)	Sybil Evers
Sport
Country	Great Britain
Sport	Track and field
Event(s)	100–400 m, long jump
University team	Cambridge University Athletics Club
Coached by	Sam Mussabini
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	100 yd – 9.9 (1924) 100 m – 10.6 (1924) 200 m – 21.9 (1924) 440y – 50.8 (1923) LJ – 7.38 m (1924)
Medal record Representing  Great Britain Olympic Games 1924 Paris 100 metres 1924 Paris 4×100 m relay

Harold Maurice Abrahams, CBE, (15 December 1899 – 14 January 1978) was an English track and field athlete. He was Olympic champion in 1924 in the 100 metres sprint, a feat depicted in the 1981 movie Chariots of Fire.

Abrahams's father, Isaac, was a Jewish immigrant from the Congress Poland part of the Russian Empire. He worked as a financier, and settled in Bedford with his Welsh Jewish wife, Esther Isaacs. Harold was born in Bedford, and was the younger brother of another British athlete, the Olympic long jumper Sir Sidney Abrahams. Another brother, Sir Adolphe Abrahams, became the founder of British sport medicine.

Before attending university, Abrahams served as a lieutenant in the British Army. He attended Bedford School, Repton School and then at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, from 1919 to 1923. He afterwards trained as a lawyer. At Cambridge, he was a member of the Cambridge University Athletics Club (of which he was president 1922–1923),Cambridge University Liberal Club, the Pitt Club, and the Gilbert and Sullivan Society.

Abrahams was also a member of the Achilles Club, a track and field club formed in 1920 by and for past and present representatives of Oxford and Cambridge universities. One of the club's founding members was Aubrey Montague, who like Abrahams is also immortalised in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire.