Thomas Ian Murray Ward

Thomas Ian Murray Ward, or Tom Ward, was born in 1907 at Scar House in Sanday. Tom went on to become one of the island’s greatest sporting exports, if not the greatest sporting export. Tom left the island to join the Metropolitan Police in London, where he was introduced to wrestling. This began his long and illustrious journey in the sport. Tom’s achievements ran from 1934 to 1943.

• Tom was first picked as a reserve for Scotland in 1934 Empire Games in London.
• He was then selected for the European Championships in 1935 which were held in Bruxelles, Belgium.
• Tom became British freestyle light heavyweight champion in 1936, and in 1937 and after a break from the competition returned in 1943 to become the champion again.
• Tom was selected to represent Great Britain in the freestyle light heavyweight wrestling team at the 1936 summer Olympics’ which was the pinnacle of his career, the greatest honor for any athlete. In 1936 the Games took place in Berlin with Adolf Hitler intending to use the Games as a platform to showcase ’Ayran’ racial superiority. The American sprinter ‘Jesse Owens’ put a stop to that by dominating the athletics track events. Tom met this legendary athlete at the games and was lucky to have his picture taken with Owens.
• In 1938 the Empire Games took place in Sydney Australia, Tom won a bronze medal whilst competing in the freestyle light heavyweight for Scotland at the Empire Games, now known as the Commonwealth Games.