History rewritten as wrestler Louis Bruce revealed as Britain’s first black Olympian

A feat of detective work – and the chance discovery of dozens of well-preserved documents at a wrestling club in Wigan – has unlocked a remarkable secret that rewrites more than 100 years of British Olympic history, the Guardian can reveal.

The sprinter Harry Edward, who won two bronze medals at the 1920 Antwerp Games, has long been lauded as Britain’s first black Olympian. But now a team of researchers has found that Edward’s achievement was beaten by 12 years by a long forgotten black heavyweight wrestler named Louis Bruce, who reached the second round of the 1908 Olympics in London.

Bruce, who was born in Edinburgh in December 1875, is already known to transport historians as one of the first black tram drivers in Britain. Last year he was celebrated by the London Transport Museum and appeared on its Black History tube map. Until now, however, his sporting claim to fame has been ignored.

However that will change with the British Olympic Association acknowledging the significance of the findings. Scott Field, the BOA’s director of communications, told the Guardian: “This is a fascinating new body of research and we’re excited to learn of Louis Bruce’s story in being the first reported black British Olympian. The diversity of British Olympians is to be celebrated and something we are incredibly proud of.”

The discovery also establishes Bruce as the fourth earliest known black athlete to compete at an Olympics. Only Constantin Henriquez, who played rugby for France in 1900, the US hurdler George Poage in 1904, and the American 400m runner John Baxter Taylor Jr, who first raced in 1908 on 21 July, two days before Bruce wrestled in the 73kg catch-as-catch-can wrestling division, competed before him.

The seeds of the tale