Discover the legends of athletics in our monthly feature On the Shoulders of Giants.
Peter Snell
New Zealand’s history of producing elite middle distance runners is an impressive read, from the great Jack Lovelock in the 1930s, Peter Snell in the 1960s, John Walker in the 1970s and more recently Nick Willis in the 2000s, the black singlet and Olympic 1500m medals very often go hand in hand. Perhaps of all these great Kiwis, it is Peter Snell together with his coach Arthur Lydiard, who have had the most significant impact on the athletics world. Their partnership reached its pinnacle at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964 but their legacy can still be found in the training plans of every distance runner today.
Born in Opunake on New Zealand’s North Island in 1938, Peter Snell exceled at a wide range of sports from an early age. Needless to say, rugby was his main focus during High School, but he also played golf, cricket, badminton and hockey. During the summer season, Snell would turn his attention to tennis. In an endeavour to improve his fitness one Sunday (aged 19) he joined friend and prominent athlete Bill Bailey for a training run. Bailey was coached by Arthur Lydiard. While Snell was unable to complete this long run, Lydiard spotted his talent and convinced him that he could make him a champion if he followed his training programme.
Lydiard’s coaching ideology centred on having his athletes build a strong endurance base by covering high mileage, 100 miles a week was optimum, and through the weekly long run of around 20 miles. He also introduced the concept of periodization, where training was adapted to the season and target races. All this is completely standard practice in endurance running today, but in the late 1950s and early 1960s it was a hugely innovative approach.
Snell burst on to the world stage at the 1960 Olympics in Rome, surprising everyone including world record holder Roger Moens (Belgium), to win Gold in the 800m. Only running under Lydiard’s direction for two years, there was nobody more surprised than Snell himself, “It was hard to believe that suddenly I was an Olympic champion. I recall looking up to the giant results board above the track and seeing P G Snell NZL at the top of the list. That was one of the great thrills of my life.”
After his success in Rome, Snell began to set his sights on world records. Breaking the mile and half mile records within a week of each other. In total, Snell set six world records, five individual and one with a New Zealand 4 x 1 mile relay team. That relay record has been held for the past 37 years by Ireland’s fabulous four – Eamonn Coghlan, Marcus O’Sullivan, Frank O’Mara and Ray Flynn.
At the Olympic Games in Tokyo 1964 Peter Snell was particularly dominant. The New Zealand flag bearer entered the games in a very different position than four years earlier, now as world record holder over mile, half-mile and 800m, he was the clear favourite. The expectations were there from his nation, the running world but also from himself, Snell was streets ahead of his competitors and he knew it. In the 800m final, his superiority was evident, Snell boxed in allowed the entire field to pass him by before smoothly moving around the outside and sprinting away to victory. In the 1500m final, Snell as identifiable for his strength as he was for his all-black racing gear, showcased his class again sprinting clear of the field to win comfortably by several yards. The 800m – 1500m double had not been achieved by a male athlete since Great Britain’s Albert Hill in 1920. It is a feat that has yet to be repeated.
Just as quickly as he appeared on to the world scene, Snell’s athletic career came to an abrupt end. At the end of the 1965 track season after a series of poor results, Snell announced his retirement at the age of 27. Although Snell’s career at the top level was relatively brief his influence has been enduring. He went on to a successful career as a researcher in the US but always kept on running.
“Running cleared the day's cobwebs from my mind and focused my thinking, and gave me time and space to sort out anything that was bothering me, or to detach and think of nothing at all. When it's pouring rain and you're bowling along through the wet, there's satisfaction in knowing you're out there and the others aren't.”
Tadhg Crowley
13 February 2023