 Snell at the 1964 Olympics | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Peter George Snell[1] (1938-12-17)17 December 1938[1] |
| Died | 12 December 2019(2019-12-12) (aged 80) |
| Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)[1] |
| Weight | 80 kg (176.4 lb; 12.6 st)[1] |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
Event(s) | 800 m, 1500 m |
| Coached by | Arthur Lydiard |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personalbest(s) | 800 metres: 1:44.3[2] (WR) 880 yards: 1:45.1 WR 1000 metres: 2:16.6 WR 1500 metres: 3:37.6[2]1 Mile: 3:54.4 WR[2] Mile 3:54.1 WR 4 × 1 mile relay: 16.23.8 WR (withMurray Halberg,Gary Philpott &Barry Magee) |
Sir Peter George SnellKNZM OBE (17 December 1938 – 12 December 2019) was a New Zealandmiddle-distance runner.[3] He won three Olympic gold medals, and is the only man since 1920 to have won the 800 and 1500 metres at the same Olympics,[4] in 1964.
Snell had a relatively short career as a world-famous international sportsman, 1960–1965, yet achieved so much that he was voted New Zealand's "Sports Champion of the (20th) Century"[5] and was one of 24 inaugural members of theInternational Association of Athletics Federations Hall of Fame named in 2012.[6] A protégé of the New Zealand athletics coachArthur Lydiard, Snell is known for the threeOlympic and twoCommonwealth Gamesgold medals he won, and the several world records he set.
Born inŌpunake, Snell moved with his family toWaikato in 1949 where he attended Te Aroha College and became an all-around sportsman. He won several middle-distance running events in his hometown ofTe Aroha, although some members of his new school lived inNgāruawāhia. In 1955 he became a boarding student atMount Albert Grammar School in Auckland, where he took up a wide range of team and individual sports, includingrugby union,cricket,tennis,badminton, andgolf. As a teenager, Snell excelled in tennis, and pursued the sport through appearances at the Auckland and New Zealand Junior Tennis Championships.[7][8]
At age 19, Snell was motivated to concentrate seriously on running by the comments of his future coach,Arthur Lydiard, who told him, "Peter, with the sort of speed you've got, if you do the endurance training, you could be one of our best middle-distance runners."[9] During his early career under the tutelage of Lydiard, he started with New Zealand titles and records for 880 yards and the mile, despite being an unusually large and powerful man by typical middle-distance runner standards.
Snell came to international attention with his gold medal in the800 metres at theRome Olympics in 1960, setting a new national record. He was particularly dominant four years later at theTokyo Olympics where he won the gold and set a new Olympic record in the800 metres, and won gold in the1500 metres.
By winning the 800–1500 m double, Snell became only the second male to achieve this feat at the Olympics afterAlbert Hill in1920,[10] and it has not been achieved by any male athlete at the Olympics since. It was not achieved by a male at an open global championship until Moroccan-bornRashid Ramzi ofBahrain won both golds at theWorld Championships in2005 atHelsinki. (After the 2008 Olympic Games, Ramzi was stripped of his Olympic gold medal fordoping, but that penalty was not applied retroactively to his World Championship gold medals.)
In early 1962, Snell lowered theworld mile record by a tenth of a second atCooks Gardens inWhanganui on27 January,[11][12] and one week later set new world records for both the 800 m and 880 yards (804.7 m) atChristchurch.[13] He then won gold and set a new record for880 yd at theCommonwealth Games inPerth in 1962, and won gold for themile at those same games. In all, Snell set five individual world records and joined fellow New Zealand athletes to set a new four by one mile relay record as well.
Snell's 800 m time of 1:44.3, set on 3 February 1962, remained the world record untilMarcello Fiasconaro ran 1:43.7 on 27 June 1973. It was theOceania area record untilJoseph Deng ran 1:44.21 on 20 July 2018. It was also the oldest national record recognised by theIAAF for a standard track and field event, lasting for 62 years untilJames Preston ran 1:44.04 on 25 May 2024, five years after Snell's death.[14] His time remains the fastest ever run over that distance on a grass track.
Fatigued after his Olympic buildup and second world mile record in 1964, his final track season in 1965 was characterised by a string of losses to such athletes as Olympic 1500 m silver medalistJosef Odlozil, Olympic 800 m silver medalistBill Crothers, U.S. high schooler and future world record holderJim Ryun, and the AmericanJim Grelle.[15] Snell then announced his retirement.
Snell worked for a tobacco company and lived inMount Albert, before moving to the United States of America in 1971 to further his education.[8] He gained a B.S. in human performance from theUniversity of California, Davis, and then aPhD in exercise physiology fromWashington State University. He joinedUniversity of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas as a research fellow in 1981. He was associate professor, Department of Internal Medicine and also director of their Human Performance Centre. A member of theAmerican College of Sports Medicine, Snell was honoured in 1999 as an Inaugural Inductee, International Scholar, into the Athlete Hall of Fame,University of Rhode Island.
Adopting a new sport, Snell became anorienteer and won his category, men aged 65 and older, in the 2003 United States Orienteering Championship.[16] He was a past president of the North Texas Orienteering Association and a member of theUnited States Orienteering Federation.
Snell also became a competitivetable tennis player including competing in Texas state (finishing in the top 4 in the 75+ age category) and U.S. championship events and also the 2017World Masters Games in Auckland.[17]
Snell died at his home inDallas, Texas on 12 December 2019, just five days short of turning 81. The cause was heart failure.[18] Miki, his wife, survived him.
Following his success at the Perth Commonwealth Games in 1962, Snell was appointed aMember of the Order of the British Empire for services in the field of athletics in the1962 Queen's Birthday Honours.[19] Three years later he was elevated to Officer of the same order in the1965 New Year Honours.[20]
He was voted New Zealand's Sports Champion of the Century in 2000 and was knighted soon afterwards.[21] In the2002 New Year Honours, he was appointed aDistinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to sport,[22] and in2009, following the restoration of titular honours by the New Zealand government, he accepted redesignation as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit and was invested by theGovernor-General of New Zealand,Sir Anand Satyanand.[23]
Snell was one of five Olympic athletes from New Zealand featured on a series of commemorativepostage stamps issued in August 2004 to commemorate the 2004 Olympic Games. The two dollar stamp issued byNew Zealand Post features a stylised photo of Snell snapping the tape at the finish line of the 800 metres race at the 1960 Olympics in Rome.[24]
He was selected byTrack and Field News' as their "Athlete of the '60's" and was pictured on the cover of the December 1969 issue.[25]In 2007 he was awarded an honorary doctorate (DSc) byMassey University in recognition of his work as anexercise physiologist.[26]
A larger than life-size bronze statue of Peter Snell was erected in his hometown of Ōpunake, Taranaki, and was unveiled on 19 May 2007. The statue is based on a photo of Snell crossing the finish line in the historic race at Wanganui's Cook's Gardens in 1962.[27] A similar bronze statue of Snell was unveiled in Cook's Gardens on 15 August 2009 to commemorate his athletic achievements.[28]
Interviewed by theWanganui Chronicle after the unveiling, Snell said he was internationally known as a miler, but he had never reached his potential over the mile and the 800 metres was probably his best distance.[29] He said his greatest effort was the world 800 m/880 yard double record set on Lancaster Park a few days after his new mile record, with an 800 m time that would have won the gold medal 46 years later at theBeijing Olympics.
Snell was inducted into the Taranaki Sports Hall of Fame[30] at the Taranaki Sports Awards 2021.[31]
In 2001,Macleans College in Auckland created Snell House as part of its "whanau house" system.[32]
The Peter Snell Youth Village, on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula, in North Auckland, is also named after him. They run holiday camps for young people.[33]
Snell Drive, in theHamilton suburb ofChartwell, is named in Snell's honour.[34]
Peter Snell Street is a street in theBay of Plenty town ofWhakatāne.Peter Snell Drive is the location of Bream Bay College in Ruakaka in Te Tai Tokerau Northland.
| Distance | Time | Place | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 800 m | 1:44.3WR | Christchurch | 1962 |
| 1000 m | 2:16.6WR | Auckland | 1964 |
| 1500 m* | 3:37.6 | Auckland | 1964 |
| Mile | 3:54.1 WR | Auckland | 1964 |
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Men's 800 metres world record holder equalled byRalph Doubell andDave Wottle 2 February 1962 – 27 June 1973 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Men's mile world record holder 27 January 1962 – 9 June 1965 | Succeeded by |
| Awards and achievements | ||
| Preceded by | Track & Field Athlete of the Year 1962 1964 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Lonsdale Cup of theNew Zealand Olympic Committee 1962 1964 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Bill Baillie | Succeeded by | |
|
|
Commonwealth Games champions in men's800 metres | |
|---|---|
| 880 yards (1930–1966) | |
| 800 metres (1970–present) |
|
Commonwealth Games champions in men's1500 metres | |
|---|---|
| 1 mile (1930–1966) | |
| 1500 metres (1970–present) |
|
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
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