This article's introduction section may not adequately summarize its contents. To comply with Wikipedia's lead section guidelines, 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) Medal record Men's Athletics Competitor for  Great Britain Olympic Games Gold 1980 Moscow 100 metres Silver 1980 Moscow 200 metres IAAF World Cup Gold 1981 Rome 100 m Silver 1981 Rome 200 m IAAF Golden Sprints Gold 1981 Berlin Sprints Silver 1979 Zurich Sprints Euro Cup Semi Gold 1981 Helsinki 100m Gold 1981 Helsinki 200m European Cup Gold 1979 Turin 200 m Gold 1981 Zagreb 100 m Gold 1983 London 200 m Silver 1981 Zagreb 200 m Silver 1983 London 100 m Bronze 1979 Turin 100 m Competitor for  Scotland Commonwealth Games Gold 1978 Edmonton 200 m Gold 1978 Edmonton 4x100 m Gold 1982 Brisbane 100 m Gold 1982 Brisbane 200 m Silver 1978 Edmonton 100 m Bronze 1982 Brisbane 4x100 m 1980 Germany Meeting Gold 1980 Koblenz 100m 1981 Van Damme Memorial Meeting Gold 1981 Brussels 200m 1981 Bislett Games Silver 1981 Bislett 200m AAA's Championships Gold 1980 AAA's 100m Gold 1977 AAA's 60m Silver 1976 AAA's 100m Silver 1983 AAA's 100m Bronze 1987 AAA's 100m UK Championships Gold 1978 Edinburgh 100m Gold 1978 Edinburgh 200m

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 1 Biography 2 Trivia 3 Medals 4 References 5 External links Biography Born in Edinburgh, Wells was educated at 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 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 at 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. Trivia Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (August 2008) Wells featured in the video for Belle & Sebastian's song "I'm A Cuckoo". In the mid-1980s, Allan was the first to be seen sporting cycling shorts, a precursor to the now omnipresent Lycra running shorts. The sight of these led to him being dubbed `Wilson of the Wizard` (an athletic comic book character from a bygone age). Wells was also famous for his intense physical workouts, which included intense hill running, hops sprinting, circuit training, and the use of a speedbag.

Wells was the last white man to win an Olympic 100m final. Indeed 1980 was 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. Medals v · d · eOlympic Champions in Men's 100 m 1896: Tom Burke (USA)  • 1900: Frank Jarvis (USA)  • 1904: Archie Hahn (USA)  • 1908: Reggie Walker (RSA)  • 1912: Ralph Craig (USA)  • 1920: Charlie Paddock (USA)  • 1924: Harold Abrahams (GBR)  • 1928: Percy Williams (CAN)  • 1932: Eddie Tolan (USA)  • 1936: Jesse Owens (USA)  • 1948: Harrison Dillard (USA)  • 1952: Lindy Remigino (USA)  • 1956: Bobby Joe Morrow (USA)  • 1960: Armin Hary (GER)  • 1964: Bob Hayes (USA)  • 1968: Jim Hines (USA)  • 1972: Valeri Borzov (URS)  • 1976: Hasely Crawford (TRI)  • 1980: Allan Wells (GBR)  • 1984: Carl Lewis (USA)  • 1988: Carl Lewis (USA)  • 1992: Linford Christie (GBR)  • 1996: Donovan Bailey (CAN)  • 2000: Maurice Greene (USA)  • 2004: Justin Gatlin (USA)  • 2008: Usain Bolt (JAM) v · d · eCommonwealth Champions in Men's 100 m 1930 – 1966: 100 yards  •  1970 – 2006: 100 metres

 1930: Percy Williams (CAN) •  1934: Arthur Sweeney (ENG) •  1938: Cyril Holmes (ENG) •  1950: John Treloar (AUS) •  1954: Mike Agostini (TRI) •  1958: Keith Gardner (JAM) •  1962: Seraphino Antao (KEN) •  1966: Harry Jerome (CAN) •  1970 – 1978: Don Quarrie (JAM) •  1982: Allan Wells (SCO) •  1986: Ben Johnson (CAN) •  1990 – 1994: Linford Christie (ENG) •  1998: Ato Boldon (TRI) •  2002: Kim Collins (SKN) •  2006: Asafa Powell (JAM) •  2010: Lerone Clarke (JAM) v · d · eCommonwealth Champions in Men's 200 m 1930 – 1966: 220 yards  •  1970 – 2006: 200 metres  1930: Stanley Engelhart (ENG) •  1934: Arthur Sweeney (ENG) •  1938: Cyril Holmes (ENG) •  1950: John Treloar (AUS) •  1954: Don Jowett (NZL) •  1958: Tom Robinson (BAH) •  1962: Seraphino Antao (KEN) •  1966: Stanley Allotey (GHA) •  1970 – 1974: Don Quarrie (JAM) •  1978: Allan Wells (SCO) •  1982: Mike McFarlane (ENG) and Allan Wells (SCO) •  1986: Atlee Mahorn (CAN) •  1990: Marcus Adam (ENG) •  1994: Frankie Fredericks (NAM) •  1998: Julian Golding (ENG) •  2002: Frankie Fredericks (NAM) •  2006: Omar Brown (JAM) v · d · ePost-War British Olympic Champions in Men's Athletics 1956: Chris Brasher (3000 m steeplechase) | 1960: Don Thompson (50 km walk) | 1964: Ken Matthews (20 km walk) | 1964: Lynn Davies (long jump) | 1968: David Hemery (400 m hurdles) | 1980: Allan Wells (100 m) | 1980: Steve Ovett (800 m) | 1980 & 1984: Sebastian Coe (1500 m) | 1980 & 1984: Daley Thompson (decathlon) | 1992: Linford Christie (100 m) | 2000: Jonathan Edwards (triple jump) | 2004: Jason Gardener, Darren Campbell, Marlon Devonish & Mark Lewis-Francis (4 x 100 m relay) v · d · eIAAF World / Continental Cup Champions in Men's 100 m

 1977: Steve Williams (USA)  •  1979 : James Sanford (USA)  •  1981: Allan Wells (GBR)  •  1985: Ben Johnson (CAN)  •  1989 – 1994: Linford Christie (GBR)  •  1998: Obadele Thompson (BAR)  •  2002: Uchenna Emedolu (NGR)  •  2006: Tyson Gay (USA)  •  2010: Christophe Lemaitre (FRA) Template:Footer European Cup Champions 100m Men Template:Footer European Cup Champions 200m Men References ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotland/asportingnation/article/0026/ ^ http://www.sporting-heroes.net/athletics-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=6921 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

 1977: Steve Williams (USA)  •  1979 : James Sanford (USA)  •  1981: Allan Wells (GBR)  •  1985: Ben Johnson (CAN)  •  1989 – 1994: Linford Christie (GBR)  •  1998: Obadele Thompson (BAR)  •  2002: Uchenna Emedolu (NGR)  •  2006: Tyson Gay (USA)  •  2010: Christophe Lemaitre (FRA) Template:Footer European Cup Champions 100m Men Template:Footer European Cup Champions 200m Men References ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotland/asportingnation/article/0026/ ^ http://www.sporting-heroes.net/athletics-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=6921 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

 1977: Steve Williams (USA)  •  1979 : James Sanford (USA)  •  1981: Allan Wells (GBR)  •  1985: Ben Johnson (CAN)  •  1989 – 1994: Linford Christie (GBR)  •  1998: Obadele Thompson (BAR)  •  2002: Uchenna Emedolu (NGR)  •  2006: Tyson Gay (USA)  •  2010: Christophe Lemaitre (FRA) Template:Footer European Cup Champions 100m Men Template:Footer European Cup Champions 200m Men References ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotland/asportingnation/article/0026/ ^ http://www.sporting-heroes.net/athletics-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=6921 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