Leadership Attributes in "Chariots of Fire"

Leadership Attributes in “Chariots of Fire”
Sporting events today have become rancorous, angry affairs where the motto, more frequently than not, is "win at all costs." Exhibitions of good sportsmanship are about as rare as selflessness. Everyone is out for themselves, and the displays of athletes like Charles Barkley and Dennis Rodman can sit in the stomach like a chunk of indigestible matter. So it's refreshing to look back at an era when victory didn't demand isolation, bitterness, and hatred of one's rivals. Chariots of Fire, the Oscar-winning 1981 film, transports us to the 1924 Olympics, and, in the process, highlights such commendable qualities as commitment, perseverance, and fraternity.
That's not to say that winning isn't important to the competitors in Hugh Hudson's film. On the contrary, for British track stars Harold Abrahams and Eric Lidell, it's a paramount concern, but neither is so obsessed by their goal that they lose sight of the larger picture. Eric is a devou...