Mike McFarlane

When he was a teenager, track sprinter Mike McFarlane won three consecutive English Schools’ 200 metres titles from 1975 to 1977. After winning several junior AAA titles McFarlane was selected to represent Great Britain at the 1979 European Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. He came away from the championships with a hat-trick of medals, with gold in the 200 metres, bronze in the 100 metres, and silver in the 4 × 100 metres relay. His solid performances earned him a place on the Olympic team for the 1980 Moskva Games, where he ran in the 200 metres and narrowly missed out on a medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay.

In 1982 McFarlane represented England at the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, which saw a remarkable finish in the 200 metres. The race ended in a photo-finish between McFarlane and Scotland’s Allan Wells. Both men had run 20.43 seconds and could not be separated, so they were both awarded with a gold medal. McFarlane once again represented Team GB at the Olympics, this time finishing fifth in the final of the 100 metres in Los Angeles in 1984. He also ran in the final of the 4 × 100 metres relay, with Great Britain finishing seventh.

Over the next couple of years McFarlane had a string of consistent results, which saw him win gold in the 60 metres at the 1985 European Indoor Championships. He again represented England at the Commonwealth Games, this time winning silver in the 4 × 100 metres relay and bronze in the 100 metres in Edinburgh in 1986. Also in 1986 he won bronze in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the European Championships in Stuttgart. In 1988 McFarlane competed at his third and final Olympics, winning silver as part of the 4 × 100 metres relay team. He retired shortly after the Olympics and worked as a successful coach. In 2001 he was made an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Personal Bests: 100 – 10.22 (1986); 200 – 20.43 (1982).