Nearly 50 years after winning Olympic 100 metres gold Allan Wells, MBE, has revealed how his bid was nearly over before it had begun.
Speaking on a trip home to Edinburgh – he has lived in the London area for decades – the sprinter said it was touch and go whether he even got to the start line.
And he named the capital physio who got him back on track as the Western General Hospital’s Sue Mears.
Allan, now 73, said: “Two and a half weeks before Moscow I got a really bad lower back problem.
“I couldn’t get up in the morning without rolling out of bed.
“I went to (nearby) Victoria Park and in the middle of families having picnics tried to run off the injury without any success.
“I then phoned Dr Ledingham, the GB Olympic doctor, and he told me to get along to the Western General where I was met by Sue.
“After one treatment she told me to come back at 10pm that night for more and then 4xsessions a day for the next week.
“Just when I thought this was killing me she cut to 2x daily sessions and the upshot was I got to Moscow feeling quite rested after the stress of the proposed boycott (over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan) and the fact I’d be required to use starting blocks which I never had previously done.”
Four races later Allan was a champion – the Americans may have boycotted but subsequent track and field meets saw him overcome their elite – albeit in the final he was grateful for a recall gun sounding.
“I told myself that if I was going to win I’d have to get a better start and in the photo finish I was sure I’d won but was worried the Russians might give it to the Cuban across on my left (Silvio Leonard who was runners-up).
“Fair play to the judges for that.”
Nowadays Allan still keeps an eye on contemporary athletics while admitting “I don’t pay a lot of attention to times.”
And two athletes he has enjoyed seeing come to the fore are Edinburgh middle distance pair Josh Kerr and Jake Wightman.
“Some people might think Josh is arrogant but he is a very, very likeable chap. Very focused.
“I like his style and it was such a shame he picked up that calf injury (in the 2025 world championship final).
“If he ever felt he was getting stale at 1500 metres I could see him having success at 3000 metres although that would be a bit like me moving up to 400 metres.”
As for Jake Wightman former Liberton HS student Wells says: “I have incredible respect for him.
“Jake might be a bit ungainly but he has a big heart and what he has achieved is phenomenal (winning the 2022 world 1500 metres title).”
Finally Wells acknowledges those Edinburgh councillors who voted through state of the art facilities at Meadowbank when he was approaching his prime having switched from long jumping to sprinting.
“We had an all weather track at Meadowbank before virtually anywhere else apart from maybe Crystal Palace.
“It was no coincidence that so many Scottish titles at that time were being won by athletes from the East of the country.”
