Olympic sprint relay silver medallist and Commonwealth 200m champion was also a brilliant and respected coach
Mike McFarlane, the 1980s sprints icon and much-admired coach, is close to death in hospital after a heart attack earlier this week. AW understands he was pronounced brain dead by doctors on Wednesday (May 31) but is on life support until Friday at the latest to allow his family to say goodbye.
‘Mac’, as he is affectionately known, won Olympic 4x100m silver in 1988 and European indoor 60m gold in 1985 representing Great Britain, but he was perhaps best known for finishing joint first in an English vest with reigning Olympic 100m champion Allan Wells in the 200m at the 1982 Commonwealth Games.
In an epic race in Brisbane, Australia, both men clocked 20.43 and officials were unable to separate them on the photo finish, ultimately awarding them both the gold.
Mike McFarlane and Allan Wells (Mark Shearman)
In later years ‘Mac’, as he was affectionately known, enjoyed great success as a sprints coach but suffered a heart attack in recent days and was unable to recover in hospital.
“Everyone at UK Athletics is saddened to hear of the passing of Mike McFarlane, the Olympic silver medallist and highly respected coach,” said the national governing body. “All our thoughts go to his family and friends at this time.”
Kath Merry, the Olympic 400m medallist and broadcaster, said: “A wonderful coach and a super athlete. How sad. No age at 63. Always a smiling face. He will be missed.”
Mike McFarlane (Mark Shearman)
Jeanette Kwayke, former UK 60m record-holder, added: “Coaches like Mac played such an important role in the lives of so many of the boys I grew up in the game with.”
As a teenager McFarlane won a hat-trick of English Schools 200m titles from 1975-1977. Indeed, his wind-assisted winning time of 20.9 in the senior boys’ race at the 1977 event at Hendon in north London still stands as a championship best today.
Such talent led him to the top of the podium at the same distance at the European Under-20 Championships in Bydgoszcz in 1979 and he earned a spot on the AW front cover shortly afterwards.
At a time when Newcastle and Arsenal striker Malcolm MacDonald – AKA ‘Super Mac’ – was making national headlines due to his speed, British athletics had its own super Mac who was even quicker. Coached by John Isaacs at Haringey, McFarlane’s brilliance acted as a catalyst for the revival of British sprinting in the…
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