Athlete

Born: February 15, 1950;

Died August 23, 2015

Stewart McCallum, who has died suddenly in hospital in Oxford at the age of 65 after a period of failing health, was one of Scotland's most talented all-round athletes, topping the Scottish rankings in five different events at various times.

In the 1970s, he became one of Scotland's most accomplished all-round athletes, winning six national titles in three different events, high hurdles, pole vault and decathlon and representing Great Britain in the decathlon and 400 metres hurdles.

A former pupil of Hamilton Academy and graduate of Glasgow University, he competed for Scotland in the decathlon in the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, New Zealand and for the British team in the World Student Games in Moscow in 1975.

In all, Glasgow-born McCallum represented Great Britain nine times, five at decathlon and four in the one-lap hurdles in which he set three Scottish records. He topped the rankings in five different events, his other strong event being the long jump.

The former Scottish National Coach John Anderson discovered McCallum when he was passing a school playing field in Hamilton and invited him to join a training group at Grangemouth Stadium. He believes the then budding young long jumper could have become almost as good at the 10-event test as the later double Olympic champion and decathlon legend Daley Thompson.

"Stewart did brilliantly considering all the disadvantages he had to put up with," said Anderson, who coached him throughout his career. "He was studying full-time for a university degree and had to train outdoors in winter for events such as the pole vault.

"Had he been living in the modern era he would have been a full-time athlete and could have practised many of the events indoors - he could have been very good indeed, possibly as good as Daley Thompson."

The biggest disappointment of McCallum's career was in the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch where, had he matched his best ever total of 7335 points, set in 1973, he would have won the silver medal.

But, to his intense regret, he failed to register a clearance in the pole vault and his medal chance had gone.

Remarkably he put that setback behind him and successfully switched events to the 400 metres hurdles, three times improving the Scottish national record to a (hand-timed) best of 50.7 secs in 1976.

His versatility was also much in demand in British League matches when he competed for Edinburgh Southern Harriers after his move to the capital and possibly his greatest triumph came in 1975 when he helped the Scottish champions complete a famous double win in the Pye Gold Cup British final at London's Crystal Palace.

First, he defeated the 1968 Olympic bronze medallist John Sherwood in the 400m hurdles in a fast 51.48 seconds then contributed a rousing last lap in the men's 4 x 400m relay.

The Edinburgh Southern Harriers club captain at the time was Alan Lorimer who remembers McCallum as a prolific points scorer who was exceptional in relays and a fine club man, who always contributed greatly to club spirit.

However, the inevitable injuries and increasing professional demands ultimately curtailed his further progress and he was left to rue the might-have-beens of his multi-event athletics career.

A graduate in law from Glasgow University, McCallum moved to Edinburgh to work for Lindsay's, and he then worked for Falkirk District Council before taking up a post as company solicitor with Whatlings from 1977-1980, followed by a spell as company solicitor with Esso Chemicals at Mossmorran.

After their wedding in December 1984 he moved abroad with his wife Jackie, who recalls particularly happy times, first in Brussels, then Southampton, Singapore and the USA.

By this time he was working for EXXONMobil, whose legal department he later headed up, and McCallum went on to hold various corporate board posts, and became vice-president of subsidiary INFINEUM, returning to Milton Park where he remained until he retired in 2012.

Keen to give something back to his sport, McCallum joined the board of Scottish Athletics in 2013 and he also coached the school team at Radleigh College in Oxford.

He is survived by his wife Jackie and two sons Craig and Blair, the former a keen rower who competed at Henley Regatta and the latter a silver medal winner in the 200 metres at the 2012 Scottish senior championships.

SANDY SUTHERLAND