Peter Snell

With a limited running background, Peter Snell exploded on to the athletic scene at the Rome Olympic Games in 1960. Five years later he retired, leaving behind a meteoric career during which he raced to three Olympic and two Commonwealth Games gold medals, eight world records, two Olympic records, and countless rival runners shattered by his deveastating finishing sprint. At 34, seeking real purpose in his life after running, Snell launched himself into the academic world. With limited education behind him, but with characteristic single-mindedness, he raced to two United States university degrees and durable success as an internationally acknowledged scientific researcher and authority in the fields of human performance, wellness and ageing. This is the story of a remarkable New Zealander who has been heaped with awards, honours and accolades in two separate fields and has achieved the rarity of cult status in a country he left 35 years ago.