Peter Snell

Peter Snell

Peter Snell, in full Peter George Snell (born December 17, 1938, Opunake, New Zealand) New Zealand middle-distance runner, who was a world-record holder in the 800-metre race (1962–68), the 1,000-metre race (1964–65), the mile (1962–65), and the 880-yard race (1962–66) and, as a team member, in the 4 × 1-mile relay race(1961).After graduating from Mount Albert Grammar School (Auckland), Snell trained under Arthur Lydiard, who stressed running long distances in training to build endurance. He burst onto the international scene at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome: the 800-metre race was supposed to be a showdown between Roger Moens of Belgium, the world-record holder, and George Kerr of Jamaica, but Snell shocked the field by charging past Moens in the last 25 metres to win by two-tenths of a second. In 1962 Snell set the 800-metre world record (1 min 44.3 sec), the world record for the 880-yard race (1 min 45.1 sec), and the world record for the mile (3 min 54.4 sec), which he lowered in 1964 (3 min 54.1 sec).At the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Snell won the gold medals in both the 800- and 1,500-metre races—a rare feat. In the finals of the 800, finding himself boxed in against the rail with 250 metres to go, Snell dropped back to maneuver around the field before passing the leader, Kenyan Wilson Kiprugut, to win with a time (1 min 45.1 sec) bested only by his own world record.