Athletes and Olympians
Linford Christie
by Alistair Morrison
February 1996
NPG x77035
Past display archive
20 March - 28 September 2008
Room 31 case display
Free
In August 2008, the formal handover of the Olympic flag marks the start of the London 2012 Olympiad. To celebrate the occasion, this display brings together a selection of great British Olympians of the twentieth century. Drawn from the Gallery's Collection, these portraits include well-known sporting stars of recent years, such as Linford Christie, and also figures from an earlier era, including the tennis player, Kitty Godfree.
This year also marks the centenary of London's first Olympic Games in 1908 that took place at the specially built White City stadium in Shepherd's Bush. Three competitors from that historic Olympics are included in this display, alongside a fascinating group of photographs that records the visit of the American Olympic team to the Houses of Parliament during the competition.
Some of the early photographs are formal studio portraits that conceal the sporting achievements of the sitters. The great sprinter Harold Abrahams, winner of a gold medal in the 1924 Paris Olympics, is shown wearing a formal suit, suitable for his other career as a barrister. More recent portraits, such as Alistair Morrison's portrait of Steve Cram sprinting, tend to be more dynamic and focus on the athleticism of the subject.
Sir Roger Bannister; Sir Christopher John Chataway
by Central Press
6 May 1954
NPG x45737
Colin Jackson
by Trevor Leighton
10 February 1994
NPG x47387
Sebastian Coe
by Alistair Morrison
March 1996
NPG x77024
Steve Backley
by Anderson & Low
16 April 1999
NPG x125678
Tessa Sanderson
by Anderson & Low
1996
NPG x87580
Jayne Torvill; Christopher Dean
by Trevor Leighton
13 August 1997
NPG x131623
Related portraits
- Six British Paralympic Athletes (NPG 6669)
- David Beckham ('David') (NPG 6661)
- Edgar Syers (NPG Ax39993)
- 'Prize Winners in the Olympic Games' (NPG x131228)
- 'Members of the Irish-American Athletic Club - Prize Winners in the Olympic Games, 1908' (NPG x33501)
- Prize Winners in the Olympic Games (Irish American Athletic Club)' (Jim Sullivan; Louis Tewanima; Robert Cloughen) (NPG x131229)
- Visit of (U.S.) American Athletes to the Olympian Games - Franco-British Exhibition, 1908 (NPG x131232)
- David George Brownlow Cecil, 6th Marquess of Exeter (NPG x122918)
- John William Henry Tyler ('Johnny') Douglas (NPG x85634)
- Harold Abrahams (NPG x21178)
- Cecilia Colledge (NPG x83659)
- Kitty Godfree (NPG x84274)
- Sir Roger Bannister; Sir Christopher John Chataway (NPG x45737)
- Henry Cooper (NPG x128483)
- Sally Gunnell (NPG x87319)
- Colin Jackson (NPG x47387)
- Linford Christie (NPG x77035)
- Sebastian Coe (NPG x77024)
- Tessa Sanderson (NPG x87580)
- Steve Cram (NPG x77044)
- Duncan Goodhew; Adrian Moorhouse; David Wilkie (NPG x77041)
- Jayne Torvill; Christopher Dean (NPG x131623)
- Roger Black (NPG x87617)
- Steve Redgrave (NPG x88341)
- Steve Backley (NPG x125678)
- Dame Denise Lewis (NPG x125009)
- Paula Radcliffe (NPG x126070)
- Fiona MacDonald; Janice Rankin; Rhona Martin; Debbie Knox; Margaret Morton (NPG x125682)
- British cycling squad (NPG x126463)
- Marlon Devonish (NPG x126457)
- Tushar Patel (NPG x126458)
- Amir Khan (NPG x126459)
- Kelly Holmes (NPG x128143)
- Herbert Roper Barrett (NPG x86287)
Related sitters
- Harold Maurice Abrahams
- Steven James ('Steve') Backley
- Caroline Jane Baird (née Innes)
- Sir Roger Bannister
- Herbert Roper Barrett
- David Robert Joseph Beckham
- Roger Anthony Black
- Sir Christopher John Chataway
- Linford Christie
- Robert Cloughen
- Sebastian Coe, Baron Coe
- (Magdalena) Cecilia Colledge
- Sir Henry Cooper
- Stephen ('Steve') Cram
- John Cullinan
- Christopher Colin Dean
- Marlon Devonish
- John J. Dolan
- John William Henry Tyler ('Johnny') Douglas
- William John Duffy
- Raymond Clarence ('Ray') Ewry
- David George Brownlow Cecil, 6th Marquess of Exeter
- Michael Joseph Flavin
- Kathleen ('Kitty') McKane Godfree
- Duncan Alexander Goodhew
- Carys Davina ('Tanni') Grey-Thompson, Baroness Grey-Thompson
- Sally Gunnell
- Charles Hall
- Robert John ('Rob') Hayles
- A.P. Henry
- Christopher ('Chris') Holmes
- Dame Kelly Holmes
- Sir Christopher Andrew ('Chris') Hoy
- Colin Ray Jackson
- Simon Louis Jackson
- Amir Khan
- G. King
- Debbie Knox
- Dame Denise Lewis
- Fiona MacDonald
- Margaret McIntosh ('Maggie') McEleny
- Craig MacLean
- Jeremiah MacVeagh
- Paul Manning
- Rhona Martin
- Adrian David Moorhouse
- Thomas ('Tom') Morrissey
- Margaret Morton
- Chris Newton
- Tushar Patel
- Paula Radcliffe
- Janice Rankin
- Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave
- Thomas Rouse
- Michael J. Ryan
- Theresa Ione ('Tessa') Sanderson
- Melvin Whinfield ('Mel') Sheppard
- Bryan Steel
- James Patrick ('Jim') Sullivan
- Edgar Syers
- John Baxter Taylor Jr
- Louis Tewanima
- Noel Thatcher
- Jayne Torvill
- David Andrew Wilkie
Related artists
- Anderson & Low
- Peter Andrews
- Bassano Ltd
- Michael Birt
- Harry Borden
- Central Press
- Carolyn Djanogly
- Ernest Clarence Elliott
- Elliott & Fry
- Dryden Goodwin
- Trevor Leighton
- John Lessore
- Thomas Patrick John Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield
- Niall McDiarmid
- Alistair Morrison
- Tim O'Sullivan
- Wolfgang Rattay
- Reuters
- Sheila Rock
- Sir (John) Benjamin Stone
- Sam Taylor-Johnson (Sam Taylor-Wood)