Bill Anderson (6 October 1937 - 2 August 2019) was a Scottish heavyweight sportsman. He won the

World Highland Games Championships The World Highland Games Championships is a well-recognised event in both strength athletics and Highland Games. The championships were organised by David Webster, OBE of Scotland, who still conducts them. A roll of past competitors includes man ...

in 1981 and the Scottish Highland Games Championships 16 times. He has also held every possible Scottish record in Highland Games.

Biography

Bill was born on Greenferns Farm,

Bucksburn Bucksburn is a suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland, named after the Bucks Burn, stream that flows through it. The stream is called Bucks Burn. Bucksburn was formerly a market village before being swallowed up by the spread of the city. The area is bor ...

, close to

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

in Scotland. He began competing as an 18-year-old at Alford in 1956 and went on to compete at the top of his sport, excelling at

caber toss The caber toss () is a traditional Scottish athletic event in which competitors toss a large tapered pole called a "caber" (), normally practised at the Scottish Highland Games. The term "caber" derives from the Gaelic word ''cabar'', whi ...

ing and hammer throwing. Anderson dominated the heavy events for three decades, winning 16 Scottish championship titles as well as British, European, American, Canadian and World championships. Anderson claimed his first Scottish title in 1959 and he became the first man to hurl the hammer in 1969 at the

Lochearnhead Lochearnhead (Scottish Gaelic: Ceann Loch Èireann) is a village in Perthshire on the A84 road, A84 Stirling to Crianlarich road at the foot of Glen Ogle, north of the Highland Boundary Fault. It is situated at the western end of Loch Earn where ...

Games. Of the heavy events, the Scots hammer was Anderson's, wooden shafted and thrown from a standing position. His 1969 Scottish Championship record of with the 22 lb hammer set at the

Crieff Crieff (; , meaning "tree") is a Scottish market town in Perth and Kinross on the A85 road between Perth, Scotland, Perth and Crianlarich, and the A822 road, A822 between Greenloaning and Aberfeldy, Scotland, Aberfeldy. The A822 road, A822 joins ...

Games still stands. The one and only time he threw the wire hammer was on national service in Aden in 1957 when with a standing throw he reached . Even after retiring as a competitor, he remained active on the games circuit, judging at the Aberdeen, Crieff,

Aboyne Aboyne (, ) is a village on the edge of the Scottish Highlands, Highlands in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on the River Dee, Aberdeenshire, River Dee, approximately west of Aberdeen. It has a swimming pool at Aboyne Academy, all-weather tennis cou ...

and Braemar Highland Games. Anderson competed in the 1979

World's Strongest Man The World's Strongest Man is an international strongman competition held every year. Organized by American event management company IMG, a subsidiary of Endeavor, it is broadcast in the US during summers and in the UK around the end of Decemb ...

contest, but withdrew early in the competition due to an injury. A biography, ''Highland Fling'' was published by Argyll Publishing. Bill Anderson died on 12 August 2019.

Accomplishments

*1981

Champion *Four times World Caber Tossing Champion *Winner of 16 Scottish Highland Games Championships *Five times USA Highland Games Champion 1976–1980 *Canadian Highland Games Champion 1977

Personal records

Weight over bar Weight over bar (or Highland games 'one arm' weight over bar) () is a traditional strength sport derived from ancient Scottish Highland games that involves the heaving of a (half hundredweight) weight, over a bar using one hand. Unlike its oth ...

– over (1977) (Former World Record) *

Weight throw Weight throw (or Weight for distance) is a traditional strength sport and throwing event derived from ancient Scottish Highland games. Unlike its other counterpart, the Weight over bar which involves a stationary pendulum like swing for height, ...

(lightweight) – for (1966) (Former World Record) *

(heavyweight) – for (1969) (Former World Record) *

Scottish hammer throw Scottish hammer throw is a traditional throwing event derived from ancient Scottish Highland games. It involves heaving of an implement consisting of a wooden handle with a spherical weight attached to one end of it as far as possible. History, ...

(lightweight) – for (1969) (Former World Record) *

(heavyweight) – for (1969) (Former World Record)

Awards and honours

He was made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

1977 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1977 are appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1977. The awards were announced on 30 December 1976 in the United Kingdom,United Kingdom: Australia,Australia: N ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

, for services to Highland Games.United Kingdom: Anderson was inducted into the

Scottish Sports Hall of Fame The Scottish Sports Hall of Fame is the national sports hall of fame of Scotland, set up in 2002. It is a joint project organised by sportscotland, the national governmental body for Scottish sport, and National Museums Scotland. It is also funded ...

in 2007.

References

External links

*
"Last Words" ''BBC Radio 4'', broadcast 6 September 2019
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Bill 1937 births 2019 deaths Members of the Order of the British Empire Scottish Highland games competitors Scottish strength athletes Sportspeople from Aberdeen