Frank Conway TURNER

A Londoner by birth, Frank Turner showed prowess in a number of different sports as a youngster and gained honours in table tennis, diving, football and boxing as well as gymnastics. He ever reached the semi-finals of the flyweight division of the Amateur Boxing Association Championship before concentrating solely on his gymnastic career. Turner had shown his talent at an early age by winning the South of England Boys Championship at the age of eleven and made his international debut at the age of fifteen in 1938 but the war years robbed him of the chance of an Olympic debut until the Games arrived in his hometown in 1948. Formed at short notice and with having little experience of international competition the British were lucky to come under the tutelage of future Olympic champion Helmut Bantz, still a prisoner of war in England, who acted as an unofficial coach to the team.

Four times a British all-around champion (1949-51 & 1953) he went to three Olympic Games as a competitor and added a fourth in 1960 when he was head coach to the British team. Turner gained a degree in sports science in 1964 and became a lecturer in the subject at Watford College of Technology and Dulwich Public College well into the 21st century. He also worked in the movies and in television as a double for actors required to perform gymnastic stunts.