Allan Wipper Wells (born 3 May 1952) is a Scottish former track and field sprinter who became the 100 metres Olympic champion at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. In 1981, he was both the IAAF Golden Sprints and IAAF World Cup gold medallist. He is also a three-time European Cup gold medallist.
He was a multiple medallist for Scotland at the Commonwealth Games, winning two golds at the 1978 Commonwealth Games and completing a 100 metres/200 metres sprint double at the 1982 Commonwealth Games. Wells also recorded the fastest British 100/200 times in 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983 and 100 m in 1984.
Wells remains the last male athlete without African ancestry to win the 100 metres at the Olympics.
Biography
Early years and long jump
Born in Edinburgh, Wells was educated at Fernieside Primary School and then Liberton High School. He left school at age 15 to begin an engineering apprenticeship. He was initially a triple jumper and long jumper, and was the Scottish indoor long jump champion in 1974.
Commonwealth and European sprint titles
He began concentrating on sprint events in 1976. In 1977 he won the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA) Indoor 60 metres title, and won his first of seven outdoor Scottish sprint titles.
In the 1978 season his times and victories continued to improve. He set a new British record at Gateshead 10.29, beating Don Quarrie and James Sanford, and also won the UK 100/200 Championships. At the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, he won the gold medal in the 200 m and silver in the 100 m. He also won the 4 × 100 m running the first leg with Drew McMaster, David Jenkins and Cameron Sharp running the other three legs.
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.
1980 – Olympic success and the showdown in Koblenz
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. He never used starting blocks, until a rule change forced him to do so for the Moscow Olympics. Prior to the Olympics he was put under pressure by Margaret Thatcher in the boycott of the games led by the Americans. He responded by declining all media requests. His Olympic participation was threatened by chronic back pain that struck him shortly before the games began. Each day he underwent four exhausting treatment sessions that left him too tired to train. Instead when not undergoing treatment he spent his time relaxing.
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. Wells finished with an extreme lean which allowed his head and shoulder to cross the finish line before Leonard's chest in a photo finish; both men were given a final time of 10.25 s. Wells became the oldest Olympic 100 m champion at that time at the age of 28 years 83 days.
The 200 m final was another close affair. 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.
In a later interview Wells said the two issues he faced prior to the games were inadvertently key factors in his success. He said in an interview to The Scotsman, "When we got to Moscow, [my wife and coach] Margot and I decided that I'd do six starts and see how it went. The fourth and fifth were full-out as if I was competing and I asked Margot what she thought: she said they were the best she'd ever seen me do. The rest had done me a lot of good, I was really fresh and committed, and those starts gave me the psychological edge over everyone else, which was key because the Olympics is all about your mental aptitude. You're at your fastest when you're relaxed and flowing (Wells' 10.11secs to qualify for the 100m final remains the Scottish record) rather than having to be aggressive."