Bill Anderson (6 October 1937 - 2 August 2019) was a Scottish heavyweight sportsman. He won the World Highland Games Championships 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, close to

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

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 tossing 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 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 the A85 ...

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 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 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 Decembe ...

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 World Highland Games Championships 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

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 contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established 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: Ne ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 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. She was queen ...

, 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