This is awesome footage.Sir Peter Snell was one of the greatest.My father,John Davies came 3rd in the 1500m putting 2 kiwis on the dias for the first time ever.He felt blessed to be given the number 26 on his vest as Lovelock wore the same number some years before.This race was extremely tactical.My father who was a great chess player,and taught me to play as soon as I could talk used his chess skills to make a plan to push the pace to diminish Snells kick in the last 100m.Snell didnt wait that long,just entering the last 400m Snell nudges the Brit and literally explodes past the bunch,making them all look slow,my dad sees Snell pass him and I can see it spurred him on to run harder.Had dad not put in that short burst as Snell past him it would have been a diffrent outcome.Also if the American ,Jim Ryan - I think ,and Kip Kieno were in the race,again it would have been a very diffrent outcome . 3.39.6
Thank you for your blog. The 1936 race where Jack Lovelock won for NZ was a great race where also Jack dominated the last lap. It is tragic he was killed a few yrs later in NYC
To make his move around 300,350 meters to go was brave.Snell was a man who knew when to be speaking and when not to be.My father beat Snell as many times as he lost to him but not on the big days .Sir Peter Snell was absolute class.Very quiet and humble man,much like my dad - John Llewelly Davies.Because I grew up surrounded by Snell,dad,Aurthur,Jeff Julian,Barry McGee,Bill Bailey etc,I had a stronger sense of stoicism instilled in me that I carry to this day.Life is Awesome.Be the best version of Yourself that you can be.
@syndicateproductionstarana4925 Your father is also rightly remembered as a titan of NZ athletics. He really did do it all. If I remember correctly, apart from everything else, didn't he help organise the incredible international track meetings we used to enjoy back in the '70's and '80's?
Peter Snell's dominance in these races was the pinnacle of a glittering career. The most feared runner in the world in the early to mid 60s at his peak. The way Snell simply blew the field away in the 1500 has never been equalled. As John Davies says. The 800 doesn't look as dramatic but is just as impressive. To drop back out of the pack, swing out wide, and then take the whole field in the last 300 of an Olympic 800 was and is simply preposterous.
he knew what he had to do and did it...you can try to imagine the adrenaline rush he got as he went by everyone on the outside and ran to victory.When the moment comes upon a runner to explode he has no choice but to "Fly" around the others and head for the finish...what a rush it is!
Yep,Peter was an exceptional human being.I grew up in the training group as my dad was John Davies.For Snell to break away with over 300m to go is insane ,going wide on the bend.You can see my dad led that race in an effort to tire out Snell as they knew each other well.Snell makes the rest of the field look slow as he catapults past them all in a seemingly effortless sprint leaving the 4 guys behind him to fight it out for a placing.About 10yrs before Peter passed away we were all having dinner and I'm chatting with him about orienteering,as that was his thing.I assumed he was talking about orienteering in a forest in Colorado or somewhere in Texas.Totally wrong.He explained that he was in Antarctica,I think ,but anyway,was orienteering in whiteout conditions in the snow in his mid 60s.They may have dropped off the radar after the Olympics but every one of these men lived their life encouraging others to be better people in every way.Im very gratefull that I have all these wonderfull memories.I wouldn't be the man I am today if I hadn't had their morals and work ethic around me all the time.Aurthur Lydiard is the man who created these men from great runners into the worlds best runners.Without Aurthur I'm not sure we would have been so dominant back then.Arch Jelly was also a great coach,he coached John Walker.I have no idea about his training methods but the results with Walker were amazing.New Zealand punches above its weight in many things.
In 1975, I lived in Anderson Place apartments in Davis, California. Anderson Place, at the time the only low-income housing in the city, had a lot of international residents who were mostly students from all of the world who were attending either the medical school or the agricultural school at the University of Davis. I was 13 years old at the time, an 8th-grade student at Emerson Junior High and managed to stay employed part-time by babysitting. One day this new couple moved in downstairs. They had two young girls, Jackie and Mandy, who were about 6 and 8 at the time. I realized this was a great new source of babysitting income and got to know the parents, Sally and Peter. I noticed that Peter had the most amazingly well developed calf muscles I had ever seen. He eventually told me had been a runner in the olympics and showed me one of his gold medals. I was impressed but even more so by his friendly, humble, approachable personality. I babysat for Mandy and Jackie often and one of them (I can't remember which) conned me into taking my first drink by offering me orange juice that I didn't know was spiked with whiskey. They thought that was just the funniest trick to play on the babysitter! Peter did me the honor of coming with me to my social studies class one day as a guest speaker. We rode our bikes together to Emerson and I got to show off my prestigious new neighbor and got extra credit in the class! I feel honored to have known the great Peter Snell.
Russell, I'd love to go to Kiwi land. Years later I worked for a company called Adis (which was actually an acronym for Australasian Data Information Set) that was headquartered in Auckland. Most of the higher ups were Kiwis.
Michelle Rizzo i met him this weekend at an orienteering competition. He said he attributes most of his success to endurance training and running hills. Cool guy but he is very quiet.
That's a great experience,you were indeed lucky to meet Peter.Sir Peter Snell was such a lovely quiet man.He and my dad trained together.The medals were just souvenirs of their Olympic experience .My dad came 3rd behind Snell in the Tokyo 1500m final .All of them were humble and very encouraging of others who were training or just becoming a better person.Todays athletes have inflated egos,not all of them.This was the end of an era where strong men were gentlemen and had a code of honour and Respect.Your experience is so precise to the Peter I knew.As a young runner at high school,Peter would sometimes ride his bike with me as I dis a 14k jog.Or we would all go jogging together.They greeted everyone and were always willing to give a minute of advice and or encouragement. 3.39.6
In February 1963, I was in a large crowd at the official opening of the Caledonian Ground in Dunedin, when Peter Snell and John Davies each broke the four-minute mile - Snell's time was 3 minutes 58.8 seconds and Davies was .2 of a second behind. The crowd knew the race was going to be fast, but when the runners got the bell well under 3 minutes everyone started to get excited and the noise as they came down to the finish line nearly took the roof off the new grandstand. Queen Elizabeth II, who was touring New Zealand at the time, was present for the opening - she was sitting about 50 metres to my left - but she was very much second fiddle to Snell that night.
@@sundromos9456 I don't know about something left in the tank after the 1500 metres. Have another look at him at the end ( 3:33). That tank is pretty empty. He has just beaten the best in the world and you don't do that by running in third gear.
peter.josef and my dad john were all great athletes who ran to their strenghths on the day,,what a race,they re created it in wanganui and western springs i think..these guys trained super hard..under the watchfull eye of arthur lydiard..the man.total respect.
Snell ...totally cool...did it with training but still had a humble nature to him...very appealing...must say he was my role model....how lucky for Jim Ryun too!
that photo at the finish line of the 1960 Olympic 800 final. Snell is giving his all, the Belgium runner looks over in despair! Only the Wade Bell poster of his 800 finish shows more "guts and glory". Peter Snell trained in secret and then came out of no where to win this final. Pure Drama!
I didnt know about him training in secret.My dad and him trained together.What Snell did is ,on top of his training he ran everywhere.He ran to work etc.These guys were not paid.My father,John Davies worked every day and then trained.Id like to know more about training In secret.All athletes do in some respect.Not on purpose though.They just aren't flashy about it.Any info on Peter and my father would be much apreciated.
Cheers kiwiauldphart for your upload :), as you know New Zealand has Great middle distance pedigree, thanks to the the late great Arthur Lydiard, The finest distance coach of all time, who's training methods are still used with great refinement today by many runners and Academies from around the World.
I knew Aurthur well,his coaching method was brutal and ruthless.If you couldn't do what he asked you were gone.When dad first got asked to join the training group the rule was you just have to make it back to Aurthurs house in Mt Albert.They went off ,a few hours later Snell,Aurthur,Ray Pucket,Jeff Julian,Murray Halberg all turn up,one at a time but no sign of John Davies.Oh well,they said,he didnt make it.Then Jeff hears a noise at the door and its dad ,barely able to open the door but he turned up about 5 or 6 mins after the rest.That was his trial by fire to be accepting into this training group.When Aurthur died,my dad started coaching Anne Audain,Dick Quax and Lorraine Moller who all bought Gold and Silver medals back for New Zealand.Aurthurs coaching methods are 100% still used today but since dad and Dick and Aurthur went to Kenya in the 60s the Kenyans have started to own long distance racing,particularly the 5 and 10.000m races.These men were not distracted.Their focus and commitment was incredible.And yes I was a 1500m and 5 to 10k road race runner and also did very well in the N.Z high school cross country nationals.I ran for Auckland boys grammar school.
100%,my dad.John Llewellyn Davies took over for Aurthur just before Aurthur died as dad snapped his hamstring and already had a silver commonwealth and bronze olympic medal.Using Aurthurs methods dad coached Dick Quax ,Lorraine Moller and Anne Audain and many others but these 3 excelled and bought home gold and silver medals for New Zealand.Aurthurs methods were brutal and ruthless.This group of men had sheer unmatched perspecacity and indefegability.Its fantastic people remember Aurthur Lydiard.He hand made all the shoes these guys raced in during the 60s.I was lucky to use my dads spiked track shoes made by Aurthur in my school days when I ran 1500m for Auckland boys grammar school.I thought they would give me more power.Didnt happen but i was always happy if i made the top 3 as i was a 5 to 10k road racer and cross country runner.Excellent comment .AURTHUR LYDIARD R.I.P . ,the man behind the legends.
Wouldn't a showdown between John Snell and Herb Elliot have been worth the price of admittance. Unfortunately Elliot retired undefeated at the mile and 1500 mts after his gold medal in Rome. He was just 22. Snell emerged on the scene prior to Tokyo which was probably the last Olympic 1500 mts final where the field did not contain black Africans (except 1976 where most black African nations boycotted due to the All Blacks playing Sth Africa which was ironically won by John Walker, another Kiwi)
An easy win and a gold medal for Snell, but also a fine effort by John Davies to snatch a bronze medal. Davies made a huge contribution also as a coach and commentator.
Yes John Davies lovely to watch this again all be it on a video, both bloody marvellous 'Kiwi's we do OK on the stage of WORLD SPORTS NEW ZEALAND, for many years NOW
Utterly destroyed the field in that 1500. It was the Olympic Finals for C-sakes...has anyone ever one an Olympic 1500 with that great a margin before or since?
As every runner knows your only as good as your last race, so times don't matter as much as the manner in which you pass the finish line. You have to remember that in 1964 Tokyo Olympics Peter Snell had to measure his energy levels as he had the 800m and !500m finals to run and win.To down play these efforts by saying Herb Elliot would have beaten him is just grasping at straws. woulder,coulder,shoulder don't wash with me.In a nut shell "You must compete in order to be a champion"case closed!
Nobody is "downplaying" Peter Snell's achievements in Tokyo - he was a great middle distance runner. But to say he was the equal of Herb Elliott is pure nationalistic prejudice. Elliott pulverised his field in the Rome Olympics - a field that contained some tremendous runners - including Michel Jazy. He broke the Olympic and World records that day and ran the distance 3 seconds faster than Snell did four years later. Certainly his retirement from running at the age of 22 was unusual and surprising, but, as someone has already said, he stopped for the same reason as Alexander the Great, "Because there were no worlds left to conquer."
David....Not 3 seconds faster but it was significant. Anyway, the point that was made was that Herb didn't compete and therefore no one should say he would have won. The 1960 Olympics were obviously 4 years earlier and a lot can happen in 4 years - for instance Snell broke Elliott's world record for the fastest mile (1600m) in that time (1962). I am NOT saying Snell is better, just that when you win the Olympics you are the champion and no one can detract from that by saying "yeah but if so and so had been here". That doesn't fly at the Olympics. Also it has to be pointed out that race times are relative and can be based on the speed of the field so comparing finishing times is it not necessarily the best metric. Extreme national prejudice? Really? Isn't that a bit overkill?
This is awesome footage.Sir Peter Snell was one of the greatest.My father,John Davies came 3rd in the 1500m putting 2 kiwis on the dias for the first time ever.He felt blessed to be given the number 26 on his vest as Lovelock wore the same number some years before.This race was extremely tactical.My father who was a great chess player,and taught me to play as soon as I could talk used his chess skills to make a plan to push the pace to diminish Snells kick in the last 100m.Snell didnt wait that long,just entering the last 400m Snell nudges the Brit and literally explodes past the bunch,making them all look slow,my dad sees Snell pass him and I can see it spurred him on to run harder.Had dad not put in that short burst as Snell past him it would have been a diffrent outcome.Also if the American ,Jim Ryan - I think ,and Kip Kieno were in the race,again it would have been a very diffrent outcome . 3.39.6
Thank you for your blog. The 1936 race where Jack Lovelock won for NZ was a great race where also Jack dominated the last lap. It is tragic he was killed a few yrs later in NYC
The 1500m win was incredible. Just absolutely left everyone else in a different postcode.
RIP Peter.
To make his move around 300,350 meters to go was brave.Snell was a man who knew when to be speaking and when not to be.My father beat Snell as many times as he lost to him but not on the big days .Sir Peter Snell was absolute class.Very quiet and humble man,much like my dad - John Llewelly Davies.Because I grew up surrounded by Snell,dad,Aurthur,Jeff Julian,Barry McGee,Bill Bailey etc,I had a stronger sense of stoicism instilled in me that I carry to this day.Life is Awesome.Be the best version of Yourself that you can be.
@syndicateproductionstarana4925 Your father is also rightly remembered as a titan of NZ athletics. He really did do it all. If I remember correctly, apart from everything else, didn't he help organise the incredible international track meetings we used to enjoy back in the '70's and '80's?
Old timers sure had it fun back then... I have to deal with a lot of political lunacy with my current generation (I am currently 16).
legend
Pure respect for one of NZs greatest runners! With the greatest coach.
Peter Snell's dominance in these races was the pinnacle of a glittering career. The most feared runner in the world in the early to mid 60s at his peak. The way Snell simply blew the field away in the 1500 has never been equalled. As John Davies says. The 800 doesn't look as dramatic but is just as impressive. To drop back out of the pack, swing out wide, and then take the whole field in the last 300 of an Olympic 800 was and is simply preposterous.
he knew what he had to do and did it...you can try to imagine the adrenaline rush he got as he went by everyone on the outside and ran to victory.When the moment comes upon a runner to explode he has no choice but to "Fly" around the others and head for the finish...what a rush it is!
Yep,Peter was an exceptional human being.I grew up in the training group as my dad was John Davies.For Snell to break away with over 300m to go is insane ,going wide on the bend.You can see my dad led that race in an effort to tire out Snell as they knew each other well.Snell makes the rest of the field look slow as he catapults past them all in a seemingly effortless sprint leaving the 4 guys behind him to fight it out for a placing.About 10yrs before Peter passed away we were all having dinner and I'm chatting with him about orienteering,as that was his thing.I assumed he was talking about orienteering in a forest in Colorado or somewhere in Texas.Totally wrong.He explained that he was in Antarctica,I think ,but anyway,was orienteering in whiteout conditions in the snow in his mid 60s.They may have dropped off the radar after the Olympics but every one of these men lived their life encouraging others to be better people in every way.Im very gratefull that I have all these wonderfull memories.I wouldn't be the man I am today if I hadn't had their morals and work ethic around me all the time.Aurthur Lydiard is the man who created these men from great runners into the worlds best runners.Without Aurthur I'm not sure we would have been so dominant back then.Arch Jelly was also a great coach,he coached John Walker.I have no idea about his training methods but the results with Walker were amazing.New Zealand punches above its weight in many things.
In 1975, I lived in Anderson Place apartments in Davis, California. Anderson Place, at the time the only low-income housing in the city, had a lot of international residents who were mostly students from all of the world who were attending either the medical school or the agricultural school at the University of Davis. I was 13 years old at the time, an 8th-grade student at Emerson Junior High and managed to stay employed part-time by babysitting. One day this new couple moved in downstairs. They had two young girls, Jackie and Mandy, who were about 6 and 8 at the time. I realized this was a great new source of babysitting income and got to know the parents, Sally and Peter.
I noticed that Peter had the most amazingly well developed calf muscles I had ever seen. He eventually told me had been a runner in the olympics and showed me one of his gold medals. I was impressed but even more so by his friendly, humble, approachable personality. I babysat for Mandy and Jackie often and one of them (I can't remember which) conned me into taking my first drink by offering me orange juice that I didn't know was spiked with whiskey. They thought that was just the funniest trick to play on the babysitter! Peter did me the honor of coming with me to my social studies class one day as a guest speaker. We rode our bikes together to Emerson and I got to show off my prestigious new neighbor and got extra credit in the class! I feel honored to have known the great Peter Snell.
Russell, I'd love to go to Kiwi land. Years later I worked for a company called Adis (which was actually an acronym for Australasian Data Information Set) that was headquartered in Auckland. Most of the higher ups were Kiwis.
Michelle Rizzo i met him this weekend at an orienteering competition. He said he attributes most of his success to endurance training and running hills. Cool guy but he is very quiet.
That's a great experience,you were indeed lucky to meet Peter.Sir Peter Snell was such a lovely quiet man.He and my dad trained together.The medals were just souvenirs of their Olympic experience .My dad came 3rd behind Snell in the Tokyo 1500m final .All of them were humble and very encouraging of others who were training or just becoming a better person.Todays athletes have inflated egos,not all of them.This was the end of an era where strong men were gentlemen and had a code of honour and Respect.Your experience is so precise to the Peter I knew.As a young runner at high school,Peter would sometimes ride his bike with me as I dis a 14k jog.Or we would all go jogging together.They greeted everyone and were always willing to give a minute of advice and or encouragement. 3.39.6
3 Olympic golds from 3 starts, legend! Was a pleasure to have met you all those years ago, RIP
The mid-distance runner with the best Final Kick! RIP Sir!!
In February 1963, I was in a large crowd at the official opening of the Caledonian Ground in Dunedin, when Peter Snell and John Davies each broke the four-minute mile - Snell's time was 3 minutes 58.8 seconds and Davies was .2 of a second behind. The crowd knew the race was going to be fast, but when the runners got the bell well under 3 minutes everyone started to get excited and the noise as they came down to the finish line nearly took the roof off the new grandstand.
Queen Elizabeth II, who was touring New Zealand at the time, was present for the opening - she was sitting about 50 metres to my left - but she was very much second fiddle to Snell that night.
A year later, 3:37 in the Olympic Final (3:54 equivalent) with a lot left in the tank.
@@sundromos9456 I don't know about something left in the tank after the 1500 metres. Have another look at him at the end ( 3:33). That tank is pretty empty. He has just beaten the best in the world and you don't do that by running in third gear.
Josef Odložil (11.11.1938 - 10.9.1993) Czechoslovakia
Silver medal Tokyo 1500 m.
He was killed by a his own son.
Rest in peace!
Very tragic
peter.josef and my dad john were all great athletes who ran to their strenghths on the day,,what a race,they re created it in wanganui and western springs i think..these guys trained super hard..under the watchfull eye of arthur lydiard..the man.total respect.
Undefeated in Olympic competition - an all-time great athlete. Rest in peace...
Dont forget Jack Lovelock. Gold medal 1936, whilst doing his medical degree at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Few atheletes were able to emulate that.
Powerful runner. Would be very competitive today on modern tracks
Fantastic always admired him since I was a school boy in Kenya and india and these were my favourite distances I am now 72
Snell ...totally cool...did it with training but still had a humble nature to him...very appealing...must say he was my role model....how lucky for Jim Ryun too!
My hero when I was a young buck❤️
that photo at the finish line of the 1960 Olympic 800 final. Snell is giving his all, the Belgium runner looks over in despair! Only the Wade Bell poster of his 800 finish shows more "guts and glory". Peter Snell trained in secret and then came out of no where to win this final. Pure Drama!
I didnt know about him training in secret.My dad and him trained together.What Snell did is ,on top of his training he ran everywhere.He ran to work etc.These guys were not paid.My father,John Davies worked every day and then trained.Id like to know more about training In secret.All athletes do in some respect.Not on purpose though.They just aren't flashy about it.Any info on Peter and my father would be much apreciated.
That's Snell and Murray Halberg reminiscing at the beginning. Both great champions who I was fortunate to see compete in person.
R.I.P to a true kiwi icon 😪
Cheers kiwiauldphart for your upload :), as you know New Zealand has Great middle distance pedigree, thanks to the the late great Arthur Lydiard, The finest distance coach of all time, who's training methods are still used with great refinement today by many runners and Academies from around the World.
I knew Aurthur well,his coaching method was brutal and ruthless.If you couldn't do what he asked you were gone.When dad first got asked to join the training group the rule was you just have to make it back to Aurthurs house in Mt Albert.They went off ,a few hours later Snell,Aurthur,Ray Pucket,Jeff Julian,Murray Halberg all turn up,one at a time but no sign of John Davies.Oh well,they said,he didnt make it.Then Jeff hears a noise at the door and its dad ,barely able to open the door but he turned up about 5 or 6 mins after the rest.That was his trial by fire to be accepting into this training group.When Aurthur died,my dad started coaching Anne Audain,Dick Quax and Lorraine Moller who all bought Gold and Silver medals back for New Zealand.Aurthurs coaching methods are 100% still used today but since dad and Dick and Aurthur went to Kenya in the 60s the Kenyans have started to own long distance racing,particularly the 5 and 10.000m races.These men were not distracted.Their focus and commitment was incredible.And yes I was a 1500m and 5 to 10k road race runner and also did very well in the N.Z high school cross country nationals.I ran for Auckland boys grammar school.
100%,my dad.John Llewellyn Davies took over for Aurthur just before Aurthur died as dad snapped his hamstring and already had a silver commonwealth and bronze olympic medal.Using Aurthurs methods dad coached Dick Quax ,Lorraine Moller and Anne Audain and many others but these 3 excelled and bought home gold and silver medals for New Zealand.Aurthurs methods were brutal and ruthless.This group of men had sheer unmatched perspecacity and indefegability.Its fantastic people remember Aurthur Lydiard.He hand made all the shoes these guys raced in during the 60s.I was lucky to use my dads spiked track shoes made by Aurthur in my school days when I ran 1500m for Auckland boys grammar school.I thought they would give me more power.Didnt happen but i was always happy if i made the top 3 as i was a 5 to 10k road racer and cross country runner.Excellent comment .AURTHUR LYDIARD R.I.P . ,the man behind the legends.
Arthur Lydiad one of the greatest Kiwi legends
@@syndicateproductionstarana4925Thanks for sharing. John Davies was an excellent runner and coach. He coached some excellent runners!!
Wouldn't a showdown between John Snell and Herb Elliot have been worth the price of admittance. Unfortunately Elliot retired undefeated at the mile and 1500 mts after his gold medal in Rome. He was just 22. Snell emerged on the scene prior to Tokyo which was probably the last Olympic 1500 mts final where the field did not contain black Africans (except 1976 where most black African nations boycotted due to the All Blacks playing Sth Africa which was ironically won by John Walker, another Kiwi)
An easy win and a gold medal for Snell, but also a fine effort by John Davies to
snatch a bronze medal. Davies made a huge contribution also as a coach and commentator.
Another legend gone home. RIP Peter Snell
New Zealand's greatest athlete. John Walker, and Ian Ferguson, came close though.
Jack Lovelock,Murray Halberg,Dick Quax,if were talking just track,were also great.
RIP to a legend
RIP thanks for the shared pride in NZ
He didn't have a kick. He had a cannon shot!
Fantastic Athlete.
Yes John Davies lovely to watch this again all be it on a video, both bloody marvellous 'Kiwi's we do OK on the stage of WORLD SPORTS NEW ZEALAND, for many years NOW
So proud to be a kiwi snell our greatest legend
absolutly great
The way Snell pulled away at the end of that 1500 meter race reminds me of Secretariat at the Belmont.
RIP Peter
Utterly destroyed the field in that 1500. It was the Olympic Finals for C-sakes...has anyone ever one an Olympic 1500 with that great a margin before or since?
Grande campione forse insuoerato
Idolo mítico!!
Peter Snell would have won 10 Global Titles in the modern era. At least
he's my dad's uncle
The mytic champion.
One of the Greater runner of all time.
Snell was an experienced miler
Too good.
just found out he’s my grandfathers uncleeee
To a young boy Peter was NZ.s culture
As every runner knows your only as good as your last race, so times don't matter as much as the manner in which you pass the finish line. You have to remember that in 1964 Tokyo Olympics Peter Snell had to measure his energy levels as he had the 800m and !500m finals to run and win.To down play these efforts by saying Herb Elliot would have beaten him is just grasping at straws. woulder,coulder,shoulder don't wash with me.In a nut shell "You must compete in order to be a champion"case closed!
Nobody is "downplaying" Peter Snell's achievements in Tokyo - he was a great middle distance runner. But to say he was the equal of Herb Elliott is pure nationalistic prejudice. Elliott pulverised his field in the Rome Olympics - a field that contained some tremendous runners - including Michel Jazy. He broke the Olympic and World records that day and ran the distance 3 seconds faster than Snell did four years later. Certainly his retirement from running at the age of 22 was unusual and surprising, but, as someone has already said, he stopped for the same reason as Alexander the Great, "Because there were no worlds left to conquer."
David....Not 3 seconds faster but it was significant. Anyway, the point that was made was that Herb didn't compete and therefore no one should say he would have won. The 1960 Olympics were obviously 4 years earlier and a lot can happen in 4 years - for instance Snell broke Elliott's world record for the fastest mile (1600m) in that time (1962). I am NOT saying Snell is better, just that when you win the Olympics you are the champion and no one can detract from that by saying "yeah but if so and so had been here". That doesn't fly at the Olympics. Also it has to be pointed out that race times are relative and can be based on the speed of the field so comparing finishing times is it not necessarily the best metric. Extreme national prejudice? Really? Isn't that a bit overkill?
No times given ?
A great shame that john davies was never able to step up to 5000 meters through injury.
Awesome! Where are the NZ runners now?
this was before black people were invented, so yea
@@proudkiwi7641 Did you not notice Nick Willis is white? Were you too busy being a wanker?
Probably playing ruggers, soccer or on the Xbox or PlayStation.
I’m kiwi
strong
Красава!
Steve Ovett would have challenged him over 1500m. Seb Coe would have challenged him over 1500m and 800m. Peter Snell was better than Ovett over 800m.