Tomorrow, 2 September, is a great day in the Kiwi sporting history calendar.
In 1960 we were overjoyed with the success of our athletes at the Rome Olympics.
Ranked 26th in the world, Peter Snell was probably not on any other team’s radar but with Arthur Lydiard’s coaching, he cruised through the three qualifying rounds, running impressive times.
[…]The final was run at a red-hot pace. The favourite, Belgian world record-holder Roger Moens, took the lead with 100 m to go and seemed certain to win until Snell surged past him on the inside. When he realised he had won in Olympic record time, Snell was too stunned to take a victory lap.
Minutes later, Halberg lined up in the final of the 5000 m, for which he had qualified easily. Running to a plan set by Lydiard, he burst ahead of the field with three laps to go and hung on to the finish before collapsing on the infield, completely spent.[…]
NZHistory
Twelve years’ later it was the rowing eight on the podium.
[…]The New Zealand crew arrived in Munich as favourites, having won the world title in 1971. Despite this the Kiwis faced stiff opposition in the final. East German crews had already won five gold medals that day, while the United States had won the eights at 11 of the 15 Olympics at which it had been rowed. Somewhat surprisingly, the Kiwis had been beaten in the semi-final by West Germany. They were determined there would be no such upset in the final. Buoyed by the performance of the coxless four, which had won silver earlier in the day, the eights exploded from the starting line. They led by a boat-length after 350 m and surged again to double this advantage by halfway (1000 m). The United States and East Germany reduced the lead to a length with 500 m to go, but the Kiwis won by nearly 3 seconds from the Americans.
The crew that memorable day was: Trevor Coker, Athol Earl, John Hunter, Tony Hurt, Dick Joyce, Gary Robertson, Wybo Veldman, Lindsay Wilson, Simon Dickie (cox).[…]
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Jump seven years and sitting on a speedway bike rather than a rowing skiff, Ivan Mauger won his sixth world title.
[…]As well as a record six individual world titles between 1968 and 1979, including three in a row from 1968 to 1970, Mauger also won the long track world championship three times between 1971 and 1976, and captained and coached New Zealand to a world team title in 1979.
Mauger rode for a number of British speedway teams in a sport that is popular in central and northern Europe. By the time he retired in his mid-40s in 1985, he had won many more titles.
Recognised with an MBE in 1976 and OBE in 1989, he was one of the 75 inaugural members inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1990.[…]
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