Bowls legend William ‘Willie’ Wood is Scotland’s most capped Commonwealth athlete, appearing in a record-breaking eight Games and winning four medals. Born in Gifford, East Lothian, in 1938, he followed in the footsteps of his mother, father and grandfather and took up bowls at the age of 12 to occupy his time. After doing National Service and running his own garage, he first represented Scotland in 1966 – the first of 134 appearances for his country.
His Commonwealth Games career included a singles bronze in 1974, a silver in the pairs in 1978, individual gold in 1982 and a captain’s role in the 1990 winning fours team in Auckland, New Zealand. In 1986, he was cruelly denied the chance to defend his CG singles title in his ‘home town’ of Edinburgh, when he was deemed to be a professional. At the age of 72, Wood was also included in Scotland’s team for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, extending his record to an eighth games, and making him the oldest competitor in Delhi, India. As well as being a Commonwealth legend, Willie has won seven major international tournaments and 14 World Championship medals in his illustrious career. His World Championship triumphs include a fours team gold at Worthing in 1992 and gold in the men’s triples in 1996 (Adelaide), 2004 (Ayr) and 2008 (Christchurch).
He also competed in more than 40 home international events and won several national titles. Wood was awarded an MBE in 1992 for services to sport and retired from international bowls in 2011. Now aged 87, Willie is still playing bowls at his East Lothian club where he recently had the road approaching the club named after him.
Record:
- Commonwealth Games: ’74 (singles bronze), ’78 (pairs silver), ’82 (singles gold), ’90 (fours gold)
- World Bowls Championships: ’80 (fours silver), ’84 (singles silver), ’88 (triples silver), ’88 (singles silver), ’92 (triples bronze), ’92 (fours gold), ’96 (triples gold), ’00 (triples bronze), ’00 (fours bronze), ’04 (triples gold), ’08 (triples gold)
