Start Me Up: The Athletics Starter Who Blunted Bolt

This is Unsung. Introducing the sports stars you don’t know, telling the stories you can’t miss. The series begins, rather aptly, with a look at the job of an athletics starter.

The sound of gunfire is the precursor to every great sprint in athletics history. Yet those pulling the trigger are much more than a hired gun.

In this episode, Alexis James meets the volunteer official whose strict codes on rule-keeping can break as many dreams as they make - for even the world’s most famous athletes.

Alan Bell has presided over the biggest races in athletics for almost half a century. From dealing with stroppy sprinters to disqualifying the biggest names in the sport, Alan shares anecdotes from his time in the sport, and offers tips on how to become a starter of international pedigree.

If you enjoy the podcast then be sure to get a copy of Alexis’ new book Unsung: Not All Heroes Wear Kits is published by Pitch Publishing and available from all of your favourite book outlets.

Along with more from Alan Bell and other athletics starters just like him, you’ll be able to read never-before-told tales from Formula 1 mechanics, Olympic snowmakers, sports chaplains, kit designers, rugby medics, anti-doping officials, cycling moto pilots, and more from sport’s unheralded heroes.

Head to unsungbook.com for more information, or follow @UnsungBook on Twitter and Instagram. And make sure to subscribe to the podcast to be the first to know about new episodes.

Quotes:

"That will probably be the greatest moment of my life with the exception of the birth of my kids. You know, you fire a gun at the World Championship final, which is not a bad bonus in itself. And then the big fella from Jamaica, he doesn't create history. He rewrites it with 9.58. And if you think about it, you know, nobody's been anywhere near since."

"I've never made any money from it. The benefits have been, I've travelled the world. Business Class flights. I've stayed in some of the world's best hotels. I've worked with legends."

"There’s a game that they often play of psyching each other out. But they also have their own idiosyncratic preparation. And part of what I have to judge is, are they playing games? Or are they doing what’s natural?"

Explore more

Usain Bolt breaks World Record in Berlin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol9fiOAditk

Jon Drummond at the 2003 World Championships

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmvBI7X5iKg

Cindy Billaud at the 2014 European Championships

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeFQp0m-ZlQ&t=242s

Zharnel Hughes disqualified at 2021 British Championships

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=30398&v=QdqXGMjUlb8&feature=youtu.be

Usain Bolt disqualified at 2011 World Championships

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFb6OTmy0wc&t

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