Willie Wood (bowler)
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| Nationality |
 Scotland
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| Born |
26 April 1938 Gifford, East Lothian |
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Medal record
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William "Willie" Wood MBE, (born 26 April 1938 in Haddington, East Lothian) is a Scottish professional bowls player, who has mainly competed in the outdoor or lawn form of the game. His list of achievements include two Commonwealth Games gold medals and two World Bowls Championship runner-up medals. He was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.
Wood took up bowls at the age of 12, perhaps unsurprisingly as his father, grandfather and mother all played the sport. 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.
Wood undertook his national service with the British Army, joining aged 18, serving in Germany with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. He later ran his own garage before concentrating on bowls.
Wood first represented his country in 1966 and in 2002 became the first athlete to compete in a 7th Commonwealth Games. His Commonwealth Games career included a singles bronze in 1974, a silver in the pairs in 1978, individual gold in 1982 and a captain's role in the 1990 winning fours team. 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. 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.
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