Alan Richard Bell (born 10 June 1957) is a British sprinter. He competed in the men's 400 metres at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

. Bell was a member of the Wakefield Harriers. He started his career in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

and

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

, winning medals at the Yorkshire Athletics Championships and Northern Championships, before moving up to

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

. In July 1977, Bell represented Britain in a meeting against France in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

. Bell opened his 1978 season with wins over both 100 and

300 metres The 300 metres is an uncommon sprinting event in track and field competitions. All-time top 25 *+ = en route to 400 m performance *i = indoor performance *A = affected by altitude *OT = oversized track (> 200 m in circumference) *h = hand timi ...

, highlighting the spring Liverpool Harriers meeting in

Kirkby Kirkby ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. The town, historically in Lancashire, has a size of is north of Huyton and north-east of Liverpool. The population in 2016 was 41,495 making it the largest ...

. He first represented the United Kingdom in June 1978, in a dual meet with

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

in Crystal Palace, London. By winning the silver medal at the

1980 UK Athletics Championships The 1980 UK Athletics Championships was the national championship in outdoor track and field for the United Kingdom held at Crystal Palace Athletics Stadium, London. Three events were contested separately at Meadowbank Stadium, Edinburgh – the w ...

, he qualified for the Olympics, at which he reached the semi-finals but did not advance to the finals due to a stomach bug. In 1980, Bell worked at

St Thomas' Hospital St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. It is one of the institutions that compose the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. Administratively part of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foun ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

on weekends. Bell competed at the 1981

Anniversary Games The London Diamond League, formerly known as the London Grand Prix and subsequently as the Anniversary Games, is an annual athletics event held in London, England. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events, it is now part of the Dia ...

in a specially-arranged race over

against Olympic decathlon champion

Daley Thompson Francis Morgan Ayodélé Thompson, (born 30 July 1958), better known as Daley Thompson, is a British former decathlete. He won the decathlon gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984, and broke the world record for the event four tim ...

, hurdler Bill Hartley, and other runners. At the 1982 West Yorkshire Championships, Bell led the "highlight of the meeting" by running 47.8 seconds to win the 400 metres. Bell's brother is

Roger Bell Roger Charles Bell is a Canadian former secondary school teacher and convicted criminal from Prince Edward Island. Born in Murray River in 1944, Bell is a graduate of University of Western Ontario and taught high school chemistry at several schools ...

, silver medalist in the 400 m hurdles at the

1979 UK Athletics Championships The 1979 UK Athletics Championships was the national championship in outdoor track and field for the United Kingdom held at Alexander Stadium, Birmingham. It was the third edition of the competition limited to British athletes only, launched as a ...

. After retiring from athletics, he worked in medicine.

References

External links

* * * 1957 births Living people Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics British male sprinters English male sprinters English male athletes Olympic athletes for Great Britain Sportspeople from Wakefield Athletes from Yorkshire {{UK-athletics-bio-stub