"I Would Have Done The Same’— Snell

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29801, 18 April 1962, Page 17

"I Would Have Done The Same’— Snell

The mile race that could have been the greatest of all time, between New Zealand’s P. G. Snell and Australia’s H. J. Elliott, will not materialise after all.

They would have met in the Blue Riband race of the Empire Games at Perth in November, but Elliott’s announcement of his retirement means he will not be there.

Earlier this year, Snell broke Elliott’s world record for the mile by .Isec. when he returned 3min 54.45ec at Wanganui. Elliott had held the record since 1958, and until Snell’s time has been ratified, he is still the official record-holder. Both Snell and Elliott regretted the fact that they will not meet at Perth, but both agreed that it was wisest in the circumstances. Big Disappointment “This is a big disappointment to me. but I think, if I was in Elliott's situation, I would do the same myself,” said Snell In Auckland today, reports the Press Association. “I would not have been satisfied, nor would any runner, to have met and beaten Elliott at a time when he was below his true peak. “That would not bp a real victory.” Snell and Elliott have run against each other only three times. Snell won twice at half a mile, and Elliott beat Snell in Dublin in 1960 when the New Zealander was timed at 4min I.2sec in his first international mile race. Never Beaten Elliott was never beaten over the mile even as a schoolboy and he retired as the greatest competitive athlete in history, Snell said. “There will always be doubt now as to which of us would be better in a match race in which we were both at peak form but I think it would be better to have that doubt than to have the issue decided on an unequal basis,” he said. “I know what it is like for a runner to be caught when he is not fit. It happened to me in the 1961 season. Lot To Lose “Unless Elliott could get himself right, it would be pretty certain that he would be beaten at Perth and he has got a lot to lose, just as I would have a lot to gain by beating him. “The fact that he won't be there in the mile takes away a certain amount of the incentive for me to train really hard, because I had regarded this less as a race for the Empire title as a race for personal satisfaction against Herb Elliott.” Elliott said: “It wouid have been a tremendous race. “We are now at about the same level and I feel the victor would have to break a new barrier, thus bringing the mile time nearer 3min 50sec. “Originally I was planning to train in Sweden for two months to prepare myself for Perth. Intense Training “But I have been unable to put in the work to condition my body for the intense training needed. “A couple of months in a training camp could bring me

back to around 4min for the mile, but this would not be good enough.

“I estimate it would take six months’ hard training to reach my former peak but to beat Snell I would need to look for a further horizon. “This would necessitate a further three months’ training.” In Brisbane today P. Cerutty, the man who guided Elliott to fame, said: “I agree with Elliott’s all or nothing attitude. If he cannot do justice to himself why start in a race? “I have always told him that if he could not win not to start. It is not his livelihood.”