BBC Sport: Olympics blog

The fact that 16 of the 25 Olympic 100m sprint champions have hailed from America will probably not come as that big of a surprise.

But would you know which country is second on that list?

A gold medal if you shouted out Britain, but can you now name the four sprinters from these shores who have crossed the line first? Answers in full later, and as always, no search engine cheating.

One of the quartet, though, is Allan Wells (pictured above), who shocked the sprinting world 28 years ago at the 1980 Moscow Games when he became the first Brit for 56 years to win the event.

He was considered old for a sprinter, at 28, but went to Russia in confident mood having won gold in the 200m and 4x100m relay and a silver, behind Don Quarrie, in the 100m at the 1978 Edmonton Commonwealth Games.

And in 1979, he beat Italian world record holder Pietro Mennea over 200m in the European Cup.

In Moscow Wells faced a slight problem - starting blocks. The Scotsman had never used them before the Olympics, but a new ruling forced him to do so.

If anything, though, they seemed to help as he set a new British record of 10.11 seconds in the second round.

Cuba's Silvio Leonard remained the favourite for the title as three years earlier he had become the second athlete, after American world record holder Jim Hines, to break the 10-second barrier.

The final itself was not particularly quick, but Wells, running in lane eight, and Leonard, in lane one, crossed the line at the same time - 10.25 seconds.

BBC commentator David Coleman initially said: "It looks as though Wells has been beaten into second place."

But a replay suggested otherwise, prompting Coleman to predict: "Wells' dip may well have taken it."

And Wells' dip did indeed prove crucial as he got the nod.

Detractors point to the fact that America, and numerous other countries boycotted the Games, thus making it easier for him to win gold - but Leonard was present, as were other respected sprinters such as Bulgaria's Petar Petrov.

Wells just missed out on a historic double when Mennea avenged his European Cup defeat by winning the 200m by 0.02 of a second.

How are you doing on the other three sprinters? I'm hoping you got Linford Christie (1992) and Harold Abrahams (1924).

The first British winner was Reggie Walker in 1908 who is the youngest ever champion at the age of 19 years and 128 days.

Walker was South African and is the only man from that nation and continent to win the 100m, but as the country was under British rule until 1910, his achievements are added to the British tally.

So, what British hope for Beijing? Very little.

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