The only time Snell and Elliot ever met

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33932, 27 August 1975, Page 12

The only time Snell and Elliot ever met

(By

JOHN DREW)

Percy Cerutty, the famous coach of the great Australian athlete, Herb Elliott, often claimed that Elliott could beat New Zealand’s triple Olympic gold medal winner, Peter Snell. Although the two never met at Olympic level, they did race in a little heard of event in which not only Snell beat Elliott, but so did the former Canterbury half-mile champion, Gerald Hack. In this race, which Snell S won easily, the Australian international Tony Blue was second, Hack close up third and Elliott a long way back sixth. The occasion is. vividly remembered by Hack who still runs in the pre-veteran (over 35) category for the Technical Club in Christchurch. The occasion was an international meeting at the Moomba Festival at Melbourne when 24 runners from New Zealand competed against leading athletes from all the Australian states. The date was March 13, 1960, about six months before the Rome Olympics where Snell won the 800 m and Elliott the 1500 m. So little had been heard of Snell at that time that he was not even mentioned

in comprehensive newspaper previews of the meeting. These tipped Halberg to win the “Landy” mile, the main race of the meeting, and Bill Baillie to win the 5000 m.

Halberg and Baillie both scored fine wins and received widespread newspaper applause for their feats.

“The 880 yard was held on the second day and the New Zealand coach, Arthur Lydiard, had kept his star pupil, Snell, so well under wraps that none considered him a posssibility to even take a minor placing,” recalls Hack.

Only a week before the race Ellliott had run in the 800 m championship of Australia. He had caught a bad cold the next day and had been confined to bed and it was not thought that he would contest the 880 at Melbourne. However, Elliott ran because he was made to by the Victorian athletics officials under circumstances which newspapers labled, banner headlines, as “blackmail”.

The administrators, said Hack, knew that Elliott was very keen to run at a meeting in Sydney a week later. The Melbourne meeting had been sponsored by the local Milk Board and officials were determined to have Elliott in the race.

“They told Elliott bluntly that if he did not run at Melbourne they would refuse him a clearence to run at Sydney. They were also very keen to have Elliott compete because the field included the best halfmilers from all the states in Australia and such was Elliott’s ability that as National Champion, he could be expected to run well for his home province — cold or no cold.” “I don’t know how much the cold had affected Elliotts’ running, said Hack, “but I remember Snell taking off with about 300 yards to go.

I was running about ninth, near to Elliott, and I realised by the way he was shaping he was not going to go after Snell.

“I then decided to take off myself and I managed to come through from ninth to third. That was the only time I wore the New Zealand singlet.”

Hack said Snell cruised through the' last stage of the race for an easy Imin sL3sec victory. The following year Hack recorded his best time for Canterbury of Imin 49sec. The next month Percy Cerutty, who was on a lecture tour of New Zealand, made an appearance in Christchurch.

“I heard him speak on several occasions, but I don’t remember hearing Cerutty say anything about

Herb Elliott’s defeat bySnell at Melbourne. As far as I know that was the only time Snell and Elliott ran against each other on the track.”

It was four years and six months later that Snell astonished the sporting world by winning not only the 800 m at the Tokyo Olympics but the 1500 m as well. But Elliott was not there.

On the day he left Japan after his great double, Snell was widely reported in New Zealand as saying he would return home and set about breaking the 3min 50sec barrier for themile.

But it was to be another 11 years before Snell’s brave prediction could be realised by his successor as New Zealands’ greatest miler, John Walker.