Editing Harold Abrahams (section)

==Athletics==
Abrahams had been a [[Sprint (running)|sprinter]] and [[long jump]]er since his youth. He continued to compete in running while at Cambridge. Abrahams earned a place in the [[1920 Summer Olympics|1920 Olympic]] team,<ref name="greatath"/> but was eliminated in the quarter-finals of both the [[Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres|100 m]] and the [[Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres|200 m]], and finished 20th in the [[Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's long jump|long jump]].<ref name="greatath"/> He was also part of the British [[Relay race|relay]] team that took fourth place in the [[Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metres relay|4 × 100 m]].<ref name=r1/>

The following year, Abrahams finished second behind [[Harry Edward]] in the 100 yards and 220 yards events at the [[1921 AAA Championships]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001542/19210702/056/0003 |title=Athletics |work=Northern Whig |date=2 July 1921 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=30 November 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000669/19210704/131/0006 |title=Where Britain leads |work=Birmingham Daily Gazette |date=4 July 1921  |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=30 November 2024 }}</ref> He became the [[List of British champions in long jump|national long jump champion]] after winning the [[AAA Championships]] title at the [[1923 AAA Championships]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm |title=AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists |website=National Union of Track Statisticians |access-date=30 November 2024 }}</ref>

After graduating from Cambridge, he employed [[Sam Mussabini]], a professional coach, who improved his style and training techniques in preparation for the [[1924 Summer Olympics|1924 Olympics]] in Paris, France.<ref name=r1/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sportinglife.com/olympics/best_of_british/story_get.dor?STORY_NAME=others/00/08/22/OLYMPICS_Abrahams.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001210140200/http://www.sportinglife.com/olympics/best_of_british/story_get.dor?STORY_NAME=others%2F00%2F08%2F22%2FOLYMPICS_Abrahams.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 December 2000 |title=Olympics 2000 |publisher=Sporting Life |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

For six months, Mussabini emphasised the 100 metres at Abrahams's direction, with the 200 metres as secondary. Through vigorous training, Abrahams perfected his start, stride and form. Abrahams won both the 100 yards and long jump titles at the [[1924 AAA Championships]] and one month before the 1924 Games, Abrahams set the English record in the long jump {{convert|24|ft|2+1/2|in|m|2}}, a record which stood for the next 32 years.<ref name="greatath"/> The same day he ran the [[100-yard dash]] in 9.6 seconds, but the time was not submitted as a record because the track was on a slight downhill.<ref name="JewsInSports">{{cite web |url=http://www.jewsinsports.org/olympics.asp?ID=511 |title=Uc_Hilal : Jews in Sports @ Virtual Museum |publisher=Jewsinsports.org |date=14 January 1978 |access-date=31 January 2011}}</ref>

At the 1924 Summer Games, Abrahams won the [[Athletics at the 1924 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres|100 m]] in a time of 10.6 seconds, beating all the American favourites, including the 1920 gold-medal winner [[Charley Paddock]].<ref name="greatath"/> In third place was [[Arthur Porritt, Baron Porritt|Arthur Porritt]], later [[Governor-General of New Zealand]] and Queen's Surgeon. The Paris Olympics 100 m dash took place at 7 p.m. on 7 July 1924, and Abrahams and Porritt dined together at 7 p.m. on 7 July every year thereafter, until Abrahams's death in 1978. Teammate [[Eric Liddell]], the British 100-yard dash record holder at that time, declined to compete in the Paris 100 m because one of the heats for the event was held on a Sunday. Both Liddell and Abrahams competed in the final of the [[Athletics at the 1924 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres|200 m race]], with Liddell finishing third and Abrahams sixth.<ref name="greatath"/> Liddell went on to win the gold medal in the [[Athletics at the 1924 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres|400 metres]]. Abrahams was the opening runner for the British [[Athletics at the 1924 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metres relay|4 × 100 m team]], which won the [[silver medal]]. He did not compete in the long jump.<ref name=r1/>