Graeme English

Graeme English was originally a talented gymnast but a serious ankle injury sustained after an awkward landing from a vault ended his career. After recovering, however, he quit gymnastics and returned to wrestling, a sport he had tried as a youngster.

Still in his teens, the former East Kilbride joiner was coached by Michael Cavanagh at the East Kilbride Wrestling Club. English went on to become a very talented and highly respected wrestler and, within three years of re-taking up the sport, he was a Commonwealth Games light-heavyweight bronze medallist. At the 1986 Edinburgh Games, English was one of three Scottish wrestlers to win medals as Scotland enjoyed their biggest wrestling medal haul since 1934. English won a second Commonwealth Games bronze at Victoria, Canada in 1994.

At other major international events, English competed in the 1991 World Championships, the 1988 and 1992 Europeans, and the 1987 and 1993 Commonwealth Championships, winning light-heavyweight bronze and silver medals respectively in the last two championships. English also competed in the 1988 Seoul Olympics but was eliminated in his fourth bout by Hungary’s Gábor Tóth. English did, however, win a world title in 1988, when at his first attempt, he won the Cumberland and Westmorland World Heavyweight Championship at Alwinton, just over the Scottish/England border in Northumberland.

Between 1986-94 English won eight British titles. He was the light-heavyweight champion in 1986-88, 1990, 1992, and 1994, and heavyweight champion in 1989 and 1993. Shortly after the 1994 Commonwealth Games English turned to coaching but maintained competing, and in addition to winning many senior titles, he added his ninth British title (super-heavyweight) in 2000. English’s son Brandon was also a wrestler.