Sportsman of the Year Award trophy

This Sportsman of the Year Award trophy was given to Peter Snell in 1960 and 1964 for his stunning victories at the Rome Olympics in 1960 in the 800m event, and at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964 where he won both the 800m and 1500m events, a feat not achieved since by a male athlete at the Olympics.

Sir Peter Snell

Sir Peter Snell (1938-2019) was one of the world’s greatest athletes in one of the world’s most admired sports – middle-distance running. In 2000 he was named New Zealand’s Sports Champion of the 20th Century. During his running career he won three Olympic gold medals (at Rome in 1960 and Tokyo in 1964), two British Empire and Commonwealth Games gold medals (at Perth in 1962), and set six world records. In 2002 he was made a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to sport, becoming Sir Peter in 2009.

Snell was a pupil of the master coach Arthur Lydiard who was responsible for the finest era in New Zealand athletics from 1951-66.

Design

The award features a statuette of a male athlete holding a laurel wreath and wearing a singlet with a large silver fern surrounded by 'N Z'. Sir Peter was given the one statuette for both the 1960 and 1964 awards.

Halberg Awards

The New Zealand Sportsmen of the Year Awards were created in 1949 by Jack Fairbairn and Maurice O'Connor, founders of the New Zealand Sportsman Magazine. The awards ran until 1960, and were then resurrected in 1963 by athlete Murray Halberg (who had won the Sportsman of the Year Award himself in 1958). His charity, Halberg Disability Sport Foundation, organised and presented the award annually. The awards became known as the Halberg Awards in the 1980s.