William Walker WoodMBE (born 26 April 1938[1] in Haddington, East Lothian[2]) is a former Scottish professional bowls player, who has mainly competed in the outdoor or lawn form of the game. He is regarded as one of the leading bowlers of his generation and his list of achievements include appearing at eight Commonwealth Games and winning two gold medals and eight World Bowls Championship gold medals.
Early life
Wood took up bowls at the age of 12,[3] perhaps unsurprisingly as his father, grandfather and mother all played the sport. His father William E. Wood was the 1967 national singles champion, winning the Scottish National Bowls Championships.[4] With little else to occupy his time, Wood says he elected to bowl in his home village of Gifford, rather than brave the bus journey to the swimming baths at nearby North Berwick.
He competed in the finals of the 1984 and 1988 World Bowls Championship singles (held every four years), missing out by millimetres to Peter Belliss of New Zealand in 1984 on home soil in Aberdeen. He was back in the final four years later in Auckland, New Zealand but was beaten by England's David Bryant. He did however win team gold.[6] During the 1988 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in Auckland he won two silver medals and four years later picked up two golds and one bronze at the 1992 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in Worthing.
Wood first represented his country in 1966 and in 2002 became the first athlete to compete in a 7th Commonwealth Games.[8] His Commonwealth Games career included a singles bronze in 1974, a silver in the pairs in 1978, individual gold in 1982[9] and a captain's role in the 1990 winning fours team.[8] The feat is even more remarkable as, had internal politics not forced him out of the 1986 games (held, ironically, in Scotland), Wood could have competed in more.[10] After refusing to be reclassified as an amateur, the Scotland team decided not to select the World Championship runner-up, denying him the chance to compete in Edinburgh, at a bowling green just metres from Tynecastle Park – home of his beloved Heart of Midlothian FC. In 2002, Wood was reported to be disappointed that Team Scotland athletes voted to give cyclist Craig MacLean the honour of carrying the flag at the opening ceremony, despite Wood's record-breaking achievement. Aged 72, Wood was included in Scotland's team for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, extending his record to an eighth games, and making him the oldest competitor at the games.[3][11][12]
He has 15 World Championship medals to his name, including four gold medals at the outdoor championships between 1992 and 2008.[15]
In 1992, he was awarded the MBE for services to sport, and in 2007, he became the first bowler to be inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of FameIn 2007, Wood became the first bowler to be inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame.[10]
Wood retired from international bowls in 2011, although he intends to continue to compete at national level.[10][16] His final act as an outdoor internationalist was to help Scotland retain the Home Internationals Series for a recording breaking forty-second time. Woods retired with an impressive total of 134 outdoor caps to his name.[17]
