Olympic Stories Peter Snell
Getty ImagesOlympic StoriesPeter SnellAthletics (800m, 1500m)That runner was Peter Snell. At the age of 21, he cameout of nowhere to claim a Gold Medal in one of themost prestigious events of the Olympic Games. Just 35minutes later, his good friend Murray Halberg won theGold Medal in the 5000m race. Together they stood inthe stadium and celebrated one of the most amazinghours for New Zealand sport on the world stage.NZOC Olympic Museum CollectionFour runners take their positions for the firstheat in the 800m race at the Rome OlympicGames in 1960. Three of them are well-knownrunners and the fourth is a young, stronglybuilt, but inexperienced, runner who the mediaknow little about, aside from his name andnationality. Surprisingly, he wins his first heatand advances to the next round, and winsagain to continue to the semi-finals. Again heruns well, securing himself a place in the 800mfinal. The starting pistol fires and the unknownruns in long loping strides, pounding powerfullydown the back straight. Running the race ofhis life, he slips through a gap that opens upbetween the other runners and flings himselfat the finish line, taking first place and theOlympic Gold Medal.- Peter Snell in training.Copyright 2013. The New Zealand Olympic Committee. All rights reserved. 1
Early YearsHe was the school champion in tennis, his first love, andhe was concentrating on that when a friend introducedhim to Arthur Lydiard. Lydiard was an Auckland athleticcoach who favoured new coaching methods, which wereuntried and controversial in athletic circles. He believedthat the secret to success on the athletic track was tobuild up stamina through long-distance running – up to100 miles (about 160km) per week. Regular speed trialswere interspersed to develop the killer sprint. He alsobelieved in training seven days a week – unheard of inthose days!- Peter as a child.Despite his talent for sport and his interest in theBritish Empire Games, which were held in Aucklandin 1950, Peter did not imagine he could be anOlympic athlete. He has said, “As a teenager I hadno idea that I had the potential to win an OlympicGold Medal. My athletic career developed only bylucky circumstances”.NZOC Olympic Museum CollectionHe attended Mt Albert Grammar school, but did notexcel in his class work, failing University Entrance examstwice. As Peter says, “I had a rather poor educationalperformance, largely because I don’t think I wasinterested I would rather get out on the sports field it wasn’t until much later on that I was able to turn thataround and acquire an advanced degree at university”.While he struggled with his school work, Peter’s sportingability continued to improve, and he represented theschool in inter-secondary school sports, placing third inboth the 880-yard (800m) race and the mile. Peter Snellhad plenty of stamina, but he had not yet developed histrademark finishing sprint. As he said later in life, “youare no good until you can sprint”.NZOC Olympic Museum CollectionPeter was born in Opunake, Taranaki, on December17th, 1938. His parents were keen sporting enthusiasts,and by the age of five, Peter was playing tennis. Byeight, he swam as well as playing rugby, badminton, golf,cricket and hockey. He had no bike so he ran betweenhome and school. He was fit and full of energy.Taking Up RunningPeter was convinced to join the Owairaka Athletic Clubafter meeting Lydiard. He became one of “Arthur’sBoys”, a strong group of athletes who trained together.It was tough, but it was fun. Peter always gave his allin anything he tried, and athletics was no exception.He showed a lot of promise, and was close to beingselected for the British Empire and CommonwealthGames team of 1958, though his race results at thistime showed his lack of stamina. Lydiard saw Peter’sability, and declared he was ready for the longdistance training.Peter vividly remembered his first run around theWaiatarua circuit, a 22-mile (35.5km) trail throughsteep bush, favoured by Lydiard for stamina building.Overestimating his ability, Peter had to stop and walk- Peter Snell (left) and Arthur Lydiard, Rome Olympic Games 1960.“Arthur gave usthe right sort oftraining and hewas a tremendousmotivator”, said Peter.Copyright 2013. The New Zealand Olympic Committee. All rights reserved. 2
NZOC Olympic Museum Collectionduring the run. When he finished that first run, his bodyached and he was so emotionally shattered that he burstinto tears of embarrassment. But he persevered, quicklyimproving his times and stamina over subsequenttraining sessions. He graduated to running with a fastergroup. Lydiard believed that you were fit only when youcould do one 22-mile circuit and feel energetic enoughto run it again!Rome OlympicGames 1960It was not until the 1958/1959 season that Peter reallymade a breakthrough in his running. Murray Halberg hadjust become the first New Zealander to run a mile (1.6km)in under four minutes. He was running an exhibition2000m race, which Peter unexpectedly won, beating themore experienced Halberg. Shortly after this, Peter brokethe New Zealand 880-yard (800m) record.- Murray Halberg (left) and Peter Snell (right).After this success, a stress fracture in his tibia forcedhim to rest for several months. He suffered a blow to hisself-confidence when he was beaten in his comebackrace. Lydiard stepped in with some morale-building talksand sent him to Melbourne to race. This was Peter’sfirst experience internationally and he performed so wellthat he was selected for the New Zealand Olympic teamto compete at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games. Therewas heated criticism of his selection as he was rankedonly 26th in the world in the 800m (880-yard) race.Lydiard and Halberg had faith in him though, and Peterappreciated this support, especially as he dealt with thefrustrations of training.NZOC Olympic Museum CollectionAnother frustration was that Arthur Lydiard was notselected as coach for the Olympic runners, in spite ofbeing the regular coach for more than half of the runnersselected. Lydiard coached five of the six middle- to longdistance runners on the team. An appeal was launchedand donations from Auckland citizens meant Lydiardwas able to go to Rome as an unofficial coach. BothHalberg and Peter believed that without Arthur’s tacticalhelp in preparing for each race, and his conviction intheir ability to win, they would not have achieved theirspectacular results.And so Peter won his first Gold Medal inOlympic record time of 1 minute, 46.3 seconds.When Peter returned to New Zealand after the RomeOlympic Games, he started working as an apprenticequantity surveyor. He was not paid a lot as anapprentice, and he had no car, so he either biked or ran- Peter Snell winning Gold at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games.Copyright 2013. The New Zealand Olympic Committee. All rights reserved. 3
NZOC Olympic Museum Collectionto work to save time and money. Regular commuters onhis local bus route took a great interest in his training, ashe often beat the bus!World Recordsand CompetitionAfter their success at the Olympic Games, a world tourwas organised for Lydiard and a team of his athletes in1961. For Peter, the highlight of this tour was the attemptto break the record for the 4 1 mile (4 x 1.6km) relayat a race in Dublin. Peter teamed up with Halberg, GaryPhilpott and Barry Magee. Surprising everyone, NewZealand broke the record with a true team effort whereeveryone excelled. Peter regards sharing this victory asone of the great moments in his athletic career.Lydiard’s runners were building up for the 1962 BritishEmpire and Commonwealth Games in Perth. Peter wascommitted to a schedule designed by Lydiard to focuson the half-mile (804.7m) distance. His stamina wasexcellent due to several years of long-distance runningand he was in great shape.Early in 1962 Peter broke three world records in thespace of eight days. The most famous of these wasat Cooks Garden in Wanganui, where he achieved thefirst sub-four-minute mile to be run on New Zealandsoil on the 27th of January. It was also a world record(3 minutes, 54.4 seconds). Half of the population ofWanganui crowded the track to share in the excitementof this magnificent race.“I don’t think I have ever felt such a glorious feeling ofstrength and speed without strain as I did during thatfinal exhilarating 300 yards”, Peter said after the race.In Christchurch several days later he broke both the800m and 880 yard world records in the same race.The next few months, as he prepared for the BritishEmpire and Commonwealth Games, were extremelydifficult for Peter. His father died, he had to cope with aseries of injuries and the sporting media expected himto win every time he raced. Peter didn’t let them down,winning gold medals in both the mile and half-mileevents at the Perth Games.An upsetting incident between Lydiard and Peteroccurred soon after. A journalist reported somecomments made by Peter that upset Lydiard, andLydiard declared he would no longer have anythingto do with Peter’s training. Both men were strugglingto come to terms with the change in their master–- Some of Lydiard’s runners on a training run. Peter Snell is secondfrom right.Snell’s former worldrecords of 1 minute,44.3 seconds for800m, set on 3February 1962, and2 minutes, 16.6seconds for 1000mset on 12 November1964, remain theNew Zealandnational records forthese distances.Copyright 2013. The New Zealand Olympic Committee. All rights reserved. 4
Tokyo OlympicGames 1964The lead-up to the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo wastough. Peter was running twice a day and doing theWaiatarua circuit on Sundays. He pulled a thigh muscleand noted in his diary that he couldn’t care less if he gotto the Olympic Games or not. This was a low-point in histraining, but several days later he turned in an excellenttime trial which gave him the mental lift he needed.Peter had made a decision to try for the 800m/1500mdouble – winning Gold in both races. This had only everbeen achieved once before, by British athlete Albert Hillin 1920. Doubts began to creep in though – would he, bytrying to do too much, miss out on both?In the meantime, Peter had also been selected as theflagbearer for the New Zealand team at the OpeningCeremony. The pressure wasn’t far from his mindthough. As he said, “being the flagbearer for NewZealand in 1964 was a big source of pride. It reallyreflected the fact that there were other expectationsdown the line for me to do well”.previous day, but Peter’s specialty had becomethe mile, and this was the first time he hadever raced the 1500m distance. Luckily, Peter’stime was still fast enough for him to progressto the semi-finals. A rest day allowed his legsto recover and he won his semi-finals to earna place in the final and a boost in confidence.In the final he raced comfortably at the rear ofthe field, waiting for the right moment to sprint.Then, looking around, he realised to his horrorthat he was boxed in by runners all aroundhim. He extended his arm and the athlete fromBritain, with the manners of a true gentleman,moved aside. Peter Snell had a clear run to thetape from 200m out. He powered away andagain felt the relief of the tape on his chest.Peter Snell climbed onto the podium to bepresented with his third Gold Medal andwatched in delight as fellow New Zealander,John Davies, was presented with the BronzeMedal for his third placing in the same race.A great day for New Zealand athletics!Getty Imagespupil relationship now that Peter was an experiencedrunner. However, they sorted out their different roles,re-established a working relationship, and the famouspartnership was maintained.In the stadium at the 1964 Tokyo OlympicGames, crowds are cheering all around.Peter Snell, now the crowd favourite after beingan unknown only four years earlier, won his firstheat of the 800m. He also won his semi-final,but then heard that the Olympic record hadbeen broken in one of the other semi-finals.He fought to stay positive and focused. In thefinal, his race plan became confused as othercompetitors made unexpected moves. ButPeter was running easily and surged aheadstrongly to beat his two main rivals. The relief ofthe feel of the tape on his chest was matchedby the satisfaction of reclaiming his record.The next day Peter lined up for the 1500mheats, but came fourth in the slowest heat ofthe day. A disappointing result, considering the- Peter Snell winning Gold and John Davies winning Bronze in the1500m at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games.Copyright 2013. The New Zealand Olympic Committee. All rights reserved. 5
NZOC Olympic Museum CollectionLife after competitionPeter Snell won three Olympic Gold Medals, a trulyremarkable achievement. He retired from racing in 1965at the age of 26. By publishing his book, No Bugles,No Drums (written with Garth Gilmour), and receivingmoney for it, he had lost his amateur status, and so wasno longer eligible to compete in the Olympic Games. Hewas married, so he needed to earn a living and there wasno money in running.Even though Peter had retired from competition, thedesire to achieve hadn’t left him. He moved to Americato further his education in 1971, using the self-disciplineand self-belief he learned from running. He gained aBachelor of Science in Human Performance from theUniversity of California, followed by a PhD in ExercisePhysiology from Washington State University – quite aturnaround from failing University Entrance when he wasa teenager! After graduating, he found a research role atthe University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre,and became the director of their Human PerformanceCentre in 1990.Alongside studying the effects of exercise on the humanbody, Peter has continued to exercise for his own health.He discovered orienteering when he was in his earlyfifties and became a champion in his age group. NewZealand has honoured Peter in many ways, makinghim a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)in 1962, an Officer of the Order of the British Empire(OBE) in 1965, and a Knight Companion of the NewZealand Order of Merit (KNZM) in 2009. His Olympicachievements were commemorated in a postagestamp in 2004, and in 2007 a bronze statue of Snellcrossing the finish line at Cooks Gardens was erectedin his hometown of Opunake. He was also awarded anhonorary doctorate from Massey University in 2007,and voted New Zealand’s Sports Champion of the 20thCentury in 2000 by the Halberg Trust in partnership withthe New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame.Original text written by Cheryl Maister.Photos courtesy of Getty Images andNZOC Olympic Museum Collection.- Peter Snell with the NZ Sports Champion of the 20th Century award.BibliographyAthletes of the Century: 100 Years of New ZealandTrack and Field, by Peter Heidenstrom. GP Publications,Wellington 1992.Be the Best You Can Be. transcription of interviewwith NZOC.The Champions: New Zealand’s Olympic Gold Medallists,by Tony Smith. The Press, Christchurch 2008.The Games, by Ron Palenski and Terry Maddaford.Moa Publications, Auckland 1983.Makers of Champions: Great New Zealand Coaches,by Joseph Romanos. Mills Publications, Lower Hutt 1987.Memorable Moments in New Zealand Sport, ed. DonCameron. Moa Publications, Auckland 1979.New Zealand’s Top 100 Sports History-Makers, by JosephRomanos. Trio Books Ltd., Wellington 2006.No Bugles, No Drums, by Garth Gilmour and Peter Snell.Minerva Ltd., Auckland 1965.Olympic Legends: The Book of New Zealand’s OlympicMedallists, by Paul Verdon. Hill-Verdon Publishing Ltd.,Auckland 2006.Our Olympic Century, by Joseph Romanos. Trio Books Ltd.,Wellington 2008.Peter Snell, From Olympian to Scientist, by Peter Snelland Garth Gilmour. Penguin Books, Auckland 2007.Copyright 2013. The New Zealand Olympic Committee. All rights reserved. 6
him to Arthur Lydiard. Lydiard was an Auckland athletic coach who favoured new coaching methods, which were untried and controversial in athletic circles. He believed that the secret to success on the athletic track was
Olympic Winter Games medals Olympic Winter Games posters Olympic Summer Games posters Olympic Summer Games mascots Olympic Winter Games mascots The sports pictograms of the Olympic Summer Games The sports pictograms of the Olympic Winter Games The IOC, the Olympic Movement and the Olympic Games The Olympic programme evolution Torches and torch .
Olympic Summer Games posters Olympic Summer Games mascots Olympic Winter Games mascots The IOC, the Olympic Movement and the Olympic Games The Olympic programme evolution The Olympic stadiums of the Summer Games The sports pictograms of the Olympic Summer Games The sports pictograms of the Olympic Winter Games .
Olympic Games and other Olympic Games marks, mascots, pictograms and posters, the wordmarks "Olympic", "Olympic Games" and "Olympiad", the Olympic motto "Citius, Altius, Fortius" and any English or other language translations of the same, and other Olympic-related terminology.
this report are ECE 22.05, DOT FMVSS 218 and Snell M2015 for motorcycles, EN 1078, CPSC 1203 AS/NZS 2063 and Snell for bicycles and EN1077, ASTM F2040 and Snell RS98 for snow sports helmet. VG 01.040 2014, PAS 015:2011, EN 14572:2005, ASTM F1163-15 and Snell E2016 for
Olympic Committee than our dear colleague His Serene Highness Prince Albert of Monaco. Having participated in five Olympic Games as an athlete and being a Head of State now, he embodies the spirit of the Olympic Agenda 2020 which is about safeguarding the Olympic values and strengthening sport in society.
debut of women's boxing at the London 2012 Olympic Games to be a great success. The International Federation believes that the Olympic programme will benefit from including women's boxing in future Olympic Games. Lastly, the boxing competitions at the London Olympic Games received great support and participation from the public, television,
ofmaking think and reform their ideas. And those true stories of import-antevents in the past afford opportunities to readers not only to reform their waysof thinking but also uplift their moral standards. The Holy Qur'an tells us about the prophets who were asked to relate to theirpeople stories of past events (ref: 7:176) so that they may think.File Size: 384KBPage Count: 55Explore further24 Very Short Moral Stories For Kids [Updated 2020] Edsyswww.edsys.in20 Short Moral Stories for Kids in Englishparenting.firstcry.com20 Best Short Moral Stories for Kids (Valuable Lessons)momlovesbest.comShort Moral Stories for Kids Best Moral stories in Englishwww.kidsgen.comTop English Moral Stories for Children & Adults .www.advance-africa.comRecommended to you b
“The Olympic object”, which presents an Olympic patrimonial object Physical games to put the Olympic values into practice (In collaboration with mobilesport.ch and Cool & Clean). “Resources” with additional documentation for teachers (books, articles, teaching aids, - in French). THE OLYMPIC VALUES AND FAIR PLAY
