Allan Wells Biography

Allan Wells is a former British track and field sprinter who won the 100m in the Olympics in Moscow in 1980, becoming one of the only three British athletes to win the prestigious event. He followed up his Olympic victory by becoming the IAAF Golden Sprints and IAAF World Cup gold medalist the very next year. One of the fastest sprinters of his era, he also has three European Cup gold medals to his credit. Born in Edinburgh, he received his schooling from Liberton High School. However, he dropped out as a teenager in order to begin an engineering apprenticeship. The teenager was also active in athletics from a young age and was initially a triple jumper and long jumper. In his first season of athletics in 1970, he won the Scottish junior triple jump title. He took a break from athletics for a few years while he focused on his training as a marine engineer. He returned to athletics at the relatively late age of 24 yet proceeded to become one of the finest European athletes of his era. He won two golds at the 1978 Commonwealth Games but his biggest success was at the Summer Olympics in 1980 when he clinched the gold in the 100m. In 2015, he gained considerable media attention owing to a doping allegation.