Abstract

“Some four or five weeks ago, a strange procession made its way through the north-western suburbs of London, from Camden Town to Highgate Cemetery” reports The Spectator in its 10 February 1866 edition. The obituary – or more a form of reckoning – is dedicated to Tom Sayers (1826–1865), considered the last English bare-knuckle prize fighter. Mocking the attending crowd, The Spectator drew a sharp comparison between the “immense crowd” composed of the “dregs of the population of London” and Lion, Sayers’ dog, “as chief mourner, a gigantic dog, of the St. Bernard
breed, sitting in lonely grandeur on the top of a little pony cart.”

The funeral and the gravesite prompt the question about remembered and forgotten athletes. The Spectator’s damning obituary places the question of remembering and forgetting into the context of sensationalism of both the crowd and media coverage. Its reference to the crowd’s hero, the “Champion of England” plunges the question into the middle of identity politics and discourses about nationhood.

Taking the discourses around remembering Tom Sayers as the starting point, this article will explore the relationship between sport, nationhood, and memory. It argues that memorial practices in sport that remember national heroes are political practices that on the one hand strengthen a sense of togetherness, and on the other hand walk the fine line on the verge of nationalistic discourses.

Full text

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Citation

Ornella, Alexander Darius, “Sport as Bodily Practice of Remembrance: Remembering Heroes, Remembering Nations”, in: Saviello, Alberto and Baldassare Scolari and Marie-Therese Mäder and Daria Pezzoli-Olgiati (eds), The Highgate Cemetery in London. Images as a Socio-Religious Practice, 2020, 149-171. https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/10.5771/9783845294520-149/sport-as-bodily-practice-of-remembrance?page=1