{{Short description|British gymnast (1887–1960)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}} {{Infobox gymnast | name = Edgar Watkins | image = | alt = | caption = | full_name = Edgar Lewis Watkins | birth_date = {{Birth date|1887|05|12|df=yes}} | birth_place = Ferndale, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales | death_date = {{Death year and age|1960|1887}} | death_place = Plymouth, England | discipline = MAG | country = {{GYM National Team|GBR|MAG}} | natlteam = | module = {{Infobox person | embed = yes | relatives = Evan Watkins (brother) }} }}
'''Edgar Lewis Watkins''' (12 May 1887 – 1960) was a British gymnast.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/30192 |title=Edgar Watkins |work=Olympedia |access-date=4 March 2021}}</ref> He competed in the men's team event at the 1908 Summer Olympics.<ref name="SportsRef">{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/wa/edgar-watkins-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418042134/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/wa/edgar-watkins-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 April 2020 |title=Edgar Watkins Olympic Results |access-date=14 July 2019}}</ref>
Watkins was a member of the Powell's Tillery Gymnastics Club of Abertillery, formed in 1903; most were local miners.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://outoftheblueartifacts.com/powells-tillery-miners-institute-a-history/|title=Powell's Tillery Miners Institute|website=Welsh Gymnastics|access-date=23 March 2022}}</ref> Edgar Watkins was recorded as a member of the team in 1904.<ref name="GymTeam">{{cite web|url=https://outoftheblueartifacts.com/powells-tillery-institute-gymnastics-teams|title=Powell's Tillery Institute Gymnastics Teams|website=Welsh Gymnastics|access-date=23 March 2022}}</ref> He was a member of the Powell's Tillery team that won the Welsh Amateur Gymnastics Shield in 1906 and again in 1908, and in March 1908, aged 19, he won the Individual Gymnastic Championship of Wales at his first attempt, while studying for a colliery manager's certificate.<ref name="Express">{{cite news|url=https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4187569/4187573/98/|title=Wales's Champion Gymnast - E. L. Watkins, Abertillery|newspaper=Evening Express, via National Library of Wales|date=21 March 1908|access-date=23 March 2022}}</ref> On the strength of this performance, he was selected to captain the Welsh national gymnastics team, the youngest man ever to do so. He was one of three team members to be entered in the Olympic Games in 1908.<ref name="GymTeam"/> He continued his career with the club in 1909.
Watkins' elder brother was Evan Watkins, a professional rugby player and cricketer.<ref name="Express"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Sports links}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watkins, Edgar}} Category:1887 births Category:1960 deaths Category:20th-century Welsh sportsmen Category:British male artistic gymnasts Category:Olympic gymnasts for Great Britain Category:Gymnasts at the 1908 Summer Olympics Category:Sportspeople from Rhondda Cynon Taf Category:People from Ferndale, Rhondda Cynon Taf Category:Welsh male artistic gymnasts
{{UK-artistic-gymnastics-bio-stub}}