Olympic archive: sprinter Alan Wells (1978)
Two years before the 1980 Games, Scottish sprinter Alan Wells revealed to ITN that his ambition was to prove himself a “reasonable sprinter”. He went on to win gold and silver medals in Moscow.
In July 1978, ITN’s Ian Edwards went to Leith to interview Alan Wells – “Britain’s fastest sprinter” – and his wife, Margot (then a champion hurdler and still a respected coach today), as Wells prepared for the Commonwealth Games.
Edwards is shown the somewhat unorthodox training methods being used by the couple. Encouraged by his wife, Wells decided to abandon starting blocks and managed to improve his starts.
He is also shown using a boxing speed ball which he claims to be his most important piece of training equipment, helping with “coordination, balance and reactions”. His only aim, Wells claims, is to prove that he is “a reasonable sprinter”.
Two years later in Moscow, Wells qualified for the 100 metres final in a British record time. He went on to win gold, and subsequently a silver in the 200 metres. Quite a reasonable sprinter, then.
