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| Birth name | William Smith Anderson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 6 October 1937 Bucksburn, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 12 August 2019 (aged 81) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Highland Games/Strongman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Bill Anderson MBE (6 October 1937 - 2 August 2019 [1] ) 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. [2]
Bill was born on Greenferns Farm, Bucksburn, close to Aberdeen 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. [3]
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 150 feet (46 m) in 1969 at the Lochearnhead Games. [4] Of the heavy events, the Scots hammer was Anderson's, wooden shafted and thrown from a standing position. His 1969 Scottish Championship record of 123 feet 5 inches (37.62 m) with the 22 lb hammer set at the Crieff Games still stands. [4] 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 133 feet (41 m).
Even after retiring as a competitor, he remained active on the games circuit, judging at the Aberdeen, Crieff, Aboyne and Braemar Highland Games. [4]
Anderson competed in the 1979 World's Strongest Man contest, but withdrew early in the competition due to an injury. [5]
A biography, Highland Fling was published by Argyll Publishing. [6] [7]
Bill Anderson died on 12 August 2019.
He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1977 New Year Honours by Queen Elizabeth II, for services to Highland Games. [8] [9]
Anderson was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2007. [1]
The caber toss is a traditional Scottish athletic event in which competitors toss a large tapered pole called a "caber" (/ˈkeɪbər/). It is normally practised at the Scottish Highland Games. In Scotland, the caber is usually made from a larch tree and it can be between 16–20 feet tall and weighs 90–150 pounds. The term "caber" derives from the Gaelic word cabar, which refers to a wooden beam.
Highland games are events held in spring and summer in Scotland and other countries with a large Scottish diaspora, as a way of celebrating Scottish and Celtic culture, especially that of the Scottish Highlands. Certain aspects of the games are so well known as to have become emblematic of Scotland, such as the bagpipes, the kilt, and the heavy events, especially the caber toss and weight over bar. While centred on competitions in piping and drumming, dancing, and Scottish heavy athletics, the games also include entertainment and exhibits related to other aspects of Scottish and Gaelic cultures.
David Andrew Wilkie is a Scottish former competitive swimmer who was Olympic and Commonwealth Games champion in the 1970s. He is the only person to have held British, American, Commonwealth, European, world and Olympic swimming titles at the same time and was the first British swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal since Anita Lonsbrough in 1960.
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 December each year. Competitors qualify based on placing in the top three at the four to eight Giants Live events each year. The current event sponsor is SBD Apparel. Previous sponsors include Tachi Palace, Coregenx, Commerce Hotel and Casino, DAF Trucks, Tonka, MET-Rx, and PartyPoker.com.
Strength athletics, also known as Strongman competitions, is a sport which tests competitors' strength in a variety of non-traditional ways. Some of the disciplines are similar to those in powerlifting and some powerlifters have also successfully competed in strongman competitions. However, strongman events also test physical endurance to a degree not found in powerlifting or other strength-based sports, such as carrying refrigerators, flipping truck tires, and pulling vehicles with a rope.
Geoffrey Lewis Capes is a British former shot putter, strongman and professional Highland Games competitor.
Strathdon is an area in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is situated in the strath of the River Don, 45 miles west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. The main village in the strath is also called Strathdon, although it was originally called Invernochty due to its location at the confluence of the River Don and the Water of Nochty. Also included within the area of Strathdon is the settlement of Bellabeg which has many of the local community's main facilities.
The Inverness Highland Games, is a Highland games event in the city of Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. Highland games were instituted in Inverness, on Thursday 28 September 1837 and continued on Friday 29 September. They were organised by the Northern Meeting. The Games took place in a field at the Longman, owned by Mr Wilson, who owned the Caledonian Hotel in Inverness.
The Glengarry Highland Games consist of a series of traditional Scottish competitions held annually in Maxville, Ontario, Canada, usually held the first weekend in August. The games span three days and with an attendance of over 20,000, are the largest Highland Games outside of Scotland. The Glengarry Highland Games are primarily intended to be a showcase of traditional Scottish heavy events, Highland Dance, pipe and drum competitions.
The Cowal Highland Gathering is an annual Highland games held in the Scottish town of Dunoon, Argyll and Bute, over the final weekend in August. It is held at Dunoon Stadium.
Donald Dinnie was a Scottish strongman, born at Balnacraig, Birse, near Aboyne, Aberdeenshire. Sometimes regarded as "The Nineteenth Century's greatest athlete", Dinnie's athletic career spanned over 50 years, and over 11,000 successful competitions.
The Highlander Challenge World Championships is a tournament that marries traditional Highland games with more contemporary strength athletics. It was created to help reinvigorate Highland games in Scotland by giving a modern and aspirational image while maintaining the tradition inherent in the history of the sport.
Gregor Edmunds is a Scottish Highland Games competitor and strongman. Gregor is a winner of the World Highland Games Championships, world record holder in Highland games throwing the 28lb weight 95’10.5" Highlander Challenge, and Scotland's Strongest Man.
The Crieff Highland Gathering was founded in 1870 at Crieff in Scotland. It has been a regular fixture in August every year except during World War I and between 1939-1949. The Highland games on the weekend of 15th and 16 August 2020 were cancelled due to the worldwide coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The games feature a large array of Highland Activities, including Highland dancing and heavyweight events. At first the games were held in Academy Park but in 1880 moved to the Market Park where they have been ever since.
Forbes Cowan is a Scottish former strongman competitor and multiple entrant to the World's Strongest Man. Although he never captured the World's Strongest Man title, during the 1990s he was the World Muscle Power champion, Europe's Strongest Man and Britain's Strongest Man, as well as being consistently in the top five in major international competitions.
Grant Anderson is a former weightlifter and Highland Games competitor from Scotland. He won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in 1970 in the heavyweight class of the weightlifting but was more prominent as a Highland Games competitor, in which capacity he won the inaugural World Highland Games Championships in 1980 in Los Angeles.
Paul James Foster is a multiple world bowls champion who lives in Troon, Scotland. He plays at Troon Portland (Outdoor) & Ambassador Prestwick (Indoor) bowling clubs.
David Pirie Webster, OBE is a Scottish author, historian, and sports promoter currently living in Glasgow who received an OBE for his services to sport. David has also been the organizer of the Highland Games in Largs for over 50 years.
The Fergus Scottish Festival and Highland Games is a three-day cultural festival that has been held in the town of Fergus, Ontario, for more than 70 years. The festival includes events leading to the World's Scottish Athletic Championship. It is the oldest festival of its kind in North America.
Dr. Douglas Morris Edmunds Ph.D. was a Scottish Highland Games competitor and strongman. Known as the "Godfather of Strongman", he was a two-time world champion of the caber toss and co-founded and acted as referee for the World's Strongest Man competition. He was also a co-founder of the International Federation of Strength Athletes and Highlander Challenge World Championships. He was the father of strongman Gregor Edmunds.
