Allan Wells
 |
This article's lead section may not adequately summarize its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article's key points. (March 2009) |
 |
This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2008) |
- For the English cricketer, see Alan Wells.
Allan Wipper Wells MBE (born 3 May 1952) is a former Scottish athlete, who became Olympic Champion in the 100 metres at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Born in Edinburgh, Wells was educated at Fernieside primary school and then Liberton High School. Wells, initially a triple jumper and long jumper and crowned Scottish indoor Long Jump champion in 1974, began concentrating on sprint events in 1976. In 1977 he won the AAA's Indoor 60 metres title, and won his first of seven outdoor Scottish sprint titles.
Wells's big breakthrough came at the start of the 1978 season, when his times and victories began to improve, and he won the UK 100/200 Championships. British sprinters had made little impression on the international scene, and the sight of the Scot winning two gold medals (200 m, 4 x 100 m), and a silver (100 m) at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, was a surprise for British athletics fans.
This success continued in 1979, when he won the European Cup 200 metres in Turin, Italy, beating the new World record holder Pietro Mennea on his home ground; he also finished 3rd in the 100 metres.
At the start of the 1980 season, Wells won the AAA's 100 metres, then went to the Côte d'Azur to finish preparing for the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. Wells never used starting blocks, until a rule change forced him to do so for the Moscow Olympics. In Moscow, Wells qualified for the final, with a new British record 10.11 s, where he faced pre-race favourite Silvio Leonard of Cuba. By 60 metres the field were fading, and by 80 metres the race was between Leonard on the inside and Wells on the outside. Wells edged ahead, but Leonard drew even again. With seven metres to go Wells began an extreme lean which allowed his head and shoulder to cross the finish line 3 inches (76 mm) before Leonard's chest in a photo finish. Afterward both Wells and Leonard set a final time of 10.25 s, but Wells became the oldest Olympic 100 m champion at that time.[2]
The 200 m final was another close affair. Wells made up the stagger after only 50 metres. Coming out of the turn he had a two-metre lead over Leonard, with Quarrie and Mennea close behind. But Mennea shifted gears in the straight until he caught Wells with 10 metres to go. Wells attempted a final dip which had brought him victory in the 100, but he fell short, and Wells won the silver medal behind Pietro Mennea, who beat him by 0.02 s; again he set a British record of 20.21 s.
He went on to break a third British record, 38.62 s, with the sprint relay team that finished fourth in the final. Following the Moscow Olympics, there was a general feeling that Wells's gold medal had been devalued by the boycott of the games; however afterwards he beat all-comers after the games in Germany, which included the best American sprinters Mel Lattany, Stanley Floyd, Carl Lewis and Harvey Glance. At the end of 1980, Wells was also awarded Scottish sports personality of the year.
In 1981, after a successful tour of Australia and New Zealand, Wells won the European Cup 100 metres, beating East German Frank Emmelmann. Wells also finished 2nd in the 200.
He then demonstrated his calibre by finishing first in the "IAAF Golden sprints" in Berlin; which was the most prominent Sprint Meeting in the World that year. Although defeated by the Frenchman Hermann Panzo in the 100, Wells dominated the top four American sprinters Mel Lattany, Jeff Phillips, Stanley Floyd, Steve Williams as well as Canada's Ben Johnson in the 100/200, 10.15/20.15 (200 wind assist) Wells winning the events in an aggregate 30.30.
To add to this, Wells won the 100 metres at the IAAF World cup in Rome, beating the American Champion and world's fastest 100m performer of the year which was 10.00 by Carl Lewis; Wells then finished 2nd in the world cup 200.
Afterwards, he beat the top Americans Mel Lattany and Stanley Floyd again, when he won a 200 in the Memorial Van Damme meeting in Brussels, Belgium.
In 1982, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, Wells won two more Commonwealth titles in the 100 m, a wind assisted 10.02. and then the 200 m, and a bronze medal in the relay. He shared the 200 m title with Mike McFarlane of England in a rare dead heat.
In 1983, he won his 3rd European Cup title by winning the 200 metres, beating his old adversary Pietro Mennea in London, and again took 2nd in the 100.
He then went on and finished 4th in both the 100/200 sprint finals at the IAAF World Championships in Helsinki.
He reached the 100 m semi-finals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and was a member of the relay team that finished 7th in the final.
Wells missed most of 1985 with injury. He was not selected for the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1986, as he had failed to compete at the Scottish trials. However, in a stunning comeback, he soundly beat both Johnson and Mahorn, the respective Commonwealth 100 m and 200 m champions, at Gateshead. Wells was consequently selected for Stuttgart in the European championships, coming fifth in both the 100 m and 200 m finals. To add to this, he also had a victory against Linford Christie at Crystal Palace at the end of 1986. One of his last victories was winning the Inverness Highland Games 100/200 double in 1987.
Wells's later career was punctuated by injury, but by competing into his mid-30s he helped to set the trend for sprinters to have longer careers.
After retirement, he was a coach for the British bobsleigh team. His wife Margot Wells was also a Scottish 100/100 hurdles champion, and they are now based in Guildford, Surrey where she is a fitness consultant, and Allan is a systems engineer. Wells was also inducted alongside Eric Liddell and Wyndham Halswelle (two other former Scottish Athletic Olympic Champions) into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame. Allan currently coaches the Bank of Scotland specialist sprint squad alongside another former Scottish sprinter, Ian Mackie. Wells's personal best for the 100 metres is 10.11, and for the 200 metres is 20.21, run at the Moscow 1980 games, and both are still Scottish records.
[edit] Records
Wells was the last white man to win an Olympic 100m final. 1980 was also the last time a white athlete made it to the men's 100m final.
In 1979 he ran a wind assisted 10.0 in the 100 metres in Grangemouth.
In 1980 he ran a wind assisted 9.2 in the 100 yards in Edinburgh.
In 1982 Wells also ran a wind assisted 19.8 in the 200 metres at a time trial for the Commonwealth Games in Meadowbank, Edinburgh.
Wells also recorded the fastest British 100/200 times from 1978,79,80,81,82, 1983,and 100m in 84.
[edit] Medals
|
|||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- IAAF profile for Allan Wells
- 'Thatcher tried to blackmail us not to go to Moscow. That made me very angry'. Article from The Guardian
- 1952 births
- Living people
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 Commonwealth Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics
- Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Scotland
- Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Scotland
- Commonwealth Games competitors for Scotland
- Long jumpers
- Members of the Order of the British Empire
- Olympic athletes of Great Britain
- Olympic gold medalists for Great Britain
- Olympic silver medalists for Great Britain
- Sportspeople from Edinburgh
- Scottish Sports Hall of Fame inductees
- Scottish sprinters
- Systems engineers
- Triple jumpers
- Scottish engineers
- Olympic medalists in athletics (track and field)
- People educated at Liberton High School
