In 1975, Sharp won the Scottish schoolboys 100 and 200 championships. He went on to compete at the
1980 Summer Olympic Games in
Moscow in the 100 m, 200 m where he reached the semi-finals of both sprints, and was a member of the 4 × 100 m relay where the U.K. finished 4th in the final in a new British record. He became the
British 100 metres champion after winning the British
AAA Championships title at the
1982 AAA Championships. Later that year he went on to compete in the
1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games picking up three bronze medals, in the
100 metres,
200 metres, and
4 × 100 metres relay. Also during 1982, he took the silver medal in the 200 m at the
European Athletics Championships in
Athens in 1982, narrowly losing the gold to East German sprinter
Olaf Prenzler, but beating another top East German (
Frank Emmelmann, the 100 metre winner) into bronze. Sharp also finished fourth in the 100 metres final, again narrowly missing out on a medal. He also competed at the
1983 World Championships in Athletics and again reached the semi-finals of both the sprints, narrowly missing out in places of the finals. He was also Scottish 100 m and 200 m champion with a famous 200;m victory over 1980 Olympic champion Allan Wells. Sharp also won the
UK Athletics Championships in 1980 and 1981, and was also the
AAA's indoor 60 metres champion. He competed in his third
Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1986, where he won another bronze medal with the sprint relay team. == Personal bests ==