William Cowhig

William Cowhig was born in Maesteg on 5 April 1887 and became a miner in Abertillery at the age of 14. He developed into one of the greatest of all Welsh gymnasts who won six Welsh individual titles and went to three Olympic Games. It would have been four had WW1 not intervened and postponed the 1916 Games.

As well as being Welsh champion he finished second at the British Championships in Birmingham in 1913, placed sixth in 1912 and third in 1920. His third place finish in 1920 earned him a ticket to his third Olympics at the age of 32.

His gymnastics career began at the Powell Tillery Miner’s Institute, where they developed one of the strongest teams in the UK. The club were Welsh champions in 1906, 1907, 1912, 1913 and 1914 and produced many Welsh internationals. They also finished second to Dunfermline Carnegie in the final of the Adams Shield, the UK’s National Team Championship, in 1908.

When Cowhig was picked for the British team for the 1908 Olympics in London he had clubmates Edgar Watkins, George Mead and Albert Hawkins alongside him.

He was the sole club representative in Stockholm in 1912, but had plenty of Welsh support, winning a bronze medal with St Saviour’s, Cardiff representative William Titt. He was one of six Welsh gymnasts in the British team in Antwerp in 1920

Thousands of men were employed as miners at the Cwmtillery, Rose Heyworth and Six Bells collieries around Abertillery and Watkins, Meade and Hawkins, as well as the Colliers Hall, Abertillery, representative Harry Gill, were all miners.

After retiring from gymnastics Cowhig became the organiser at the Boys’ Club in Treharris in the mid-Thirties. He also became secretary of the Treharris and District table tennis league. He then moved on to become the camp superintendent and swimming instructor at the Miners’ Welfare Camp at St Athan.

He died on 16 August 1964, aged 77, in Rugby.