Nik Stuart

Wray Stuart, better known as Nik, was the second youngest of 13 children. At school he was only interested in sport and had no academic leaning and left at the age of 14 to take a bricklaying apprenticeship. In 1946 Stuart was called up for Army service and joined the Royal Parachute Regiment and represented the Regiment at boxing before retiring undefeated after a year.

Stuart transferred to the Physical Training Corps in 1948 and they helped nurture his love of sport and as a result, he decided to make a career in the Army.

Stuart excelled at high diving and once beat the double Olympian Peter Elliott. Stuart missed the 1952 Olympics because he was posted to Singapore, but set a pole vault record at the Malaysian AAA Championships that year. It was an event he had very little practice at. In 1953 he then won the Malaysian high diving title. Stuart had also found a love of gymnastics while in Singapore and when he returned to Britain later in 1953, he concentrated on that sport and in 1956 he won the first of nine successive British gymnastic titles at the age of 29. He also went to the first of two Olympics that year and his 21st place (out of 63) in the pommelled horse was his best Olympic result.

Stuart competed in the 1957 and 1959 European Championships and at Paris in 1957 won a silver medal in the floor exercise behind the 1952 Olympic floor exercise gold medallist William Thoresson of Sweden, losing out on gold by just 0.35 marks. Stuart finished joint fifth overall at Copenhagen in 1959 behind the future Russian world champion Yury Titov. Stuart should also have competed at Frankfurt in 1955, but a rare injury prevented him from taking part.

Stuart left the Army in 1964 when the British Amateur Gymnastics Association appointed him their first National coach. He became a qualified coach and held coaching badges in ten different sports. One of his first major coaching achievements was in guiding Jack Pancott to the 1966 British title. Stuart was awarded the MBE for his services to gymnastics in 1962.