New Zealand's Olympic track history is laden with legendary figures. Snell, Walker, Quax, to name a few.
But only one sprinter with a black jersey and silver fern on their chest has ever stood on the podium at an Olympic Games.
With 100 days to go until the Olympics - in the same city - the son of Arthur Porritt remembers the bronze-medal sprint in Paris a century ago.
New Zealand's Olympic track history is laden with legendary figures - but only one sprinter with a black jersey and silver fern on their chest has ever stood on the podium at an Olympic Games. (Source: Breakfast)
A sprint that would define his life, feature in a classic film, and provide a source of niggling regret.
'Nobody saw that coming'
Whanganui-born Arthur Porritt was a fine runner and all-round athlete.
But even by his own admission he wasn’t a fiercely dedicated one.
"No one would've had him in their sights as a hot favourite for any medal in the Olympics, in fact nobody would've had him as a hot favourite to get through the first round,” his son Jonathon Porritt says.
“And I'm being absolutely honest, he certainly didn't have himself as a hot favourite to get through the first round."
"Honestly, nobody saw that coming."
His training was limited to sprints and circuits “on good days,” and nowhere near the level of his British rival Harold Abrahams.
“[Abrahams] was the first athlete to be in the 100m to be completely dedicated to training. He took it to a very different level,” Jonathan says.
Arthur Porritt's involvement in the 1924 Games was largely thanks to being based in the United Kingdom.
Sports journalist Joseph Romanos agrees there was an element of good fortune to his appearance there.
“I think he was a pretty good sprinter, but I don't think he was so outstanding they would've sent him all the way from New Zealand to Paris, there wasn't enough money for that sort of thing.”
1924: A different world
The 1924 edition was a world away from how we know the global competition now.
"It was quite a big event,” Romanos says.
“I think it was the first time they had victory podiums, they had a rudimentary Olympic village. It was just the genesis of what we see today."
Arthur Porritt’s performance on the cinder tracks was a massive surprise. A 10.8 second blitz was enough to claim bronze, behind American Jackson Scholz and Abrahams.
Romanos remembers later talking to Porritt in London.
“He said 'I was in the final! I could run backwards and I'd still be the sixth best in the world, I was so excited!' So he had more than exceeded his expectations just by making the final.
"It was a fantastic effort to rise to the occasion that much and sneak through and win a bronze medal in the final."
It was also a day that bonded Porritt and the gold medallist.
Abrahams took it upon himself to invite the New Zealander to rest in his on-site cabin between races.
In fact, the pair maintained a special relationship from that day on.
"They stay connected and they had dinner together every year at exactly the time they were running the final. The same day, the same time, every year until Harold Abrahams died," Jonathan says.
A remarkable life
Porritt’s achievements extended far beyond the track.
He was a surgeon to the Royal Family for more than 30 years, before becoming New Zealand’s Governor-General.
Romanos describes him as an “under-rated, truly great New Zealander".
“He was made a Lord, sat in the House of Lords. And he was incredibly well respected in the medical profession in Britain."
He was a war hero - having been at Dunkirk - and was given the Legion of Merit by the United States.
"He is a significant person in many respects,” Romanos said.
Lingering regret
But there was one lingering regret for Porritt and his family.
A film was to be made about the champion Abrahams, but Porritt wanted no part of it.
He was concerned a fictional love interest between Abrahams and a London socialite was a sign of things to come from the producers.
"He got it into his head that if they were prepared to play that fast and loose with a key part of a key character in the film, then maybe they were going to play fast and loose with lots of the rest of the history of the film," Jonathan recalls.
The New Zealand character in the movie became Tom Watson.
And the film – Chariots of Fire - became a true classic.
"We eventually took him to see the film after it had been out for a couple of years - to start with he didn't even want to go and see it, God he could be cranky my Dad!
“And of course he absolutely loved it. He felt really silly to have missed the opportunity to be in the film in that way."
Like the film, Porritt’s achievement in Paris a century ago has stood the test of time.
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