Teddy Pugh

After a brief spell at which he enjoyed weightlifting, Teddy Pugh took up gymnastics after joining the Cardiff St. Saviour’s Club in 1903. He very soon won the club title in successive years, and in 1907 was the Welsh amateur champion. Also that year, he was in the St. Saviour’s team beaten in the final of the Welsh Team Championship, and in 1908 captained the team to the final, only to lose again, to Abertillery.

Pugh was also in the St. Saviour’s team beaten into third place in the 1920 Adams Shield, by Northampton Polytechnic Institute and City of Birmingham, for the National Team Championship. Along with Wyndham Edwards and Stanley Leigh, Pugh was one of three members of the Welsh Amateur Gymnastics Association to represent Great Britain at the 1920 Antwerpen Olympics.

Pugh worked as a fruit and vegetable wholesaler at what was known as Cardiff’s “Covent Garden” and, for more than 56 years, got out of bed at 4 AM each working day and cycled from his home to be at the market for opening two hours later.