William Dod
William Dod (18 July 1867 – 8 October 1954) was a British archer. He won the gold medal in the men's double York round at the 1908 Summer Olympics on his 41st birthday.
William Dod was born in Bebington, Cheshire, a descendant of Sir Anthony Dod of Edge, who was knighted at the Battle of Agincourt by King Henry V. It has been claimed that Sir Anthony was in command of the English archers although this must be an exaggeration as Sir Thomas Erpingham is universally credited with having overall command.
William was educated at home by private tutors and his family fortune, gathered from the cotton trade, meant that he never had to work for a living. He indulged his passion for the sporting life as both a scratch golfer and a big game hunter. He took up archery at the home of the Legh family, who had an estate close to the Dods in Cheshire and were one of the greatest names in the sport.
Neither Dod nor his sister Lottie took part in competitive archery until they moved from Cheshire south to Berkshire in 1906, where they joined the newly formed Welford Park archery club. Within two and a half years Dod had become Olympic Champion. William Dod mastered the torrential rain on the first day of the Olympic competition to hold a 10-point advantage. When the rain gave way to swirling wind conditions on the second day, Dod forged ahead and comfortably took gold with a margin of 47 points over Reginald Brooks-King.