Gerald Salem Baker (born 7 October 1960), known as Gerry Baker, is a lawn bowler.

Bowls career

Baker is from

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State (province), Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legisla ...

, in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and has won three medals at the World Outdoor Championships and three medals at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

. He broke a South African record by appearing at six Commonwealth Games. In 1996, he won the

Hong Kong International Bowls Classic The Hong Kong International Bowls Classic is an international lawn bowls competition. It is one of the most prestigious events on the lawn bowls calendar. It started out as a pairs competition for men in 1981, with a singles event added for men ...

pairs title with

Neil Burkett Neil Anthony Burkett (born 16 March 1948) is a South African international lawn and indoor bowler. Bowls career Burkett won two World Bowls Championship medals; a fours bronze at the 1992 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in Worthing and a sil ...

. In 1998 he won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

in the singles at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games and two years later he teamed up with

Shaun Addinall Shaun Christopher Addinall (born 27 September 1969) is a South African international lawn bowler. Addinall won a bronze medal in the pairs with bowls partner Gerry Baker at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. He competed in the 2006 Commonwealth Game ...

to claim a Pairs

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

in the 2000 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in Johannesburg. Another bronze arrived in 2002 with Addinall in the Pairs during the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games before he and Addinall finally won a Gold Medal in the Pairs at the

2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, f ...

. In 2007 he won the fours gold medal at the

Atlantic Bowls Championships The Atlantic Bowls Championships was a lawn bowling competition held between national bowls organisations in the Atlantic region. The event was a qualifying event for the World Outdoor Bowls Championships until the 2021 announcement that it woul ...

. In 2009 he won the singles gold medal at the Atlantic Championships and two years later won the pairs gold medal at the 2011 Atlantic Championships. His most recent success came in the 2012 World Outdoor Bowls Championship when he picked up a fifth medal of note by claiming bronze in the Singles in Adelaide. He was selected as part of the South Africa team for the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

(his sixth Games). At national level he has finished runner-up three times at the

South African National Bowls Championships The South African National Bowls Championships is organised by Bowls South Africa (BSA). The first National Singles Championships were held in 1897 in Kimberley despite the fact that the South African Bowls Association was not formed until 1904 ...

bowling for the Belgravia Bowls Club. He finally won a national title, when winning the pairs with Bradley Robinson in May 2023.

Business career

Baker was appointed as a Director of World Bowls on 1 June 2020.

References

External links

* (2014) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Gerald 1960 births Living people South African male bowls players Commonwealth Games medallists in lawn bowls Commonwealth Games gold medallists for South Africa Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for South Africa Bowls players at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Bowls players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Bowls players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Bowls players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Bowls players at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Bowls players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Sportspeople from Bloemfontein Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games