John Anderson, the iconic voice of the original Gladiators TV show, has passed away at the age of 92.

Anderson's distinctive voice made him a household name across the UK. As the referee on the legendary television programme Gladiators, his catchphrase "Contender ready! Gladiator ready! " catapulted him to fame.

Prior to his stint on the show, Anderson was renowned as an exceptional track and field coach, guiding numerous Olympians in their careers. Among his most notable trainees was Dave Moorcroft, whom he coached to break the world 5000m record in Oslo in 1982.

Anderson also trained Olympic heptathlete Judy Simpson, Olympic middle-distance finalist Sheila Carey, and Liz McColgan, who secured an Olympic 10,000m silver in 1988.

The Glaswegian passed away in the early hours of Sunday, with Moorcroft being one of the first to pay tribute. The former runner praised Anderson's coaching skills, reports the Mirror.

"I can't speak too highly of John," Moorcroft shared with Athletic Weekly. "He turned water into wine. At our club (Coventry Godiva) we'd never had anybody break four minutes for mile, but not only did I do it but Tim Redman, Colin Ridding and Steve James all broke four minutes."

"I don't think any of them would describe themselves as world beaters but John just got the best out of people. I'm certain that I would never have been a decent athlete if it wasn't for John. Not just because of the training he gave me, but he took a shy kid who didn't believe in himself and just had that amazing ability to believe in me and others."

"He would die for his athletes and he never took a step backwards. He was a fighter in everything he did. He coached me from the age of 16 and never took a penny. It cost him a fortune for the privilege of working for nothing."

Anderson also became one of the early National Coaches for the AAA of England, having been coach to an Olympian at every Games from 1964 to 2000. In total, he is estimated to have worked with more than 170 Team GB athletes.