Luke Davidson won the 800m at the Eric Liddell Senior Scottish Championships in a similar manner to the Christian after whom the event is named.

Inverness Harriers middle-distance runner Davidson wanted to run the 1500m at Grangemouth but did not want to compete on a Sunday, the Christian Sabbath.

Instead, he competed in the shorter distance event on Saturday, finishing in one minute and 53 seconds, ahead of 2023 1500m Para-T20 World Champion Ben Sandilands.

Scottish sprinter and rugby player Liddell famously refused to run in the 100 metres at the 1924 Olympics because it was held on a Sunday, but won the 400 metres in Paris. He died in 1945 while doing missionary work in China.

The Scottish Athletics Federation renamed its athletics championships after Liddell – a century after his Olympic gold medal and the year the Games returned to the French capital.

“He’s always been an inspiration to me – that’s why I felt like him in the 800m final at Grangemouth,” Davidson told Scottish Athletics. “I’m trying to follow in his footsteps as best I can.”

“I don’t think I was one of the favourites for the 800m, but in middle distance races things can always turn out differently on the day.

“My faith is my number one priority. I train for athletics six days a week, but on Sundays I don’t compete or train.

“And on this weekend, when Scottish Athletics named their senior champions after Eric Liddell, it felt right to win this gold.”