Running shoes

Adidas revolutionised running shoes in the 1950s and gave shoes to top performing athletes such as Olympian medal contenders. Many athletes in the 1960s such as Peter Snell and Murray Halberg wore adidas shoes for both training and racing and would have owned several pairs at any one time.

However, at the Rome Olympics in 1960, Peter Snell wore shoes made by the Lydiard brothers (New Zealand) and won the 800 metres race. Snell hadn't been considered a medal prospect, so when he won the semi-final, an adidas official quickly made sure he received a pair of their shoes, but Snell stuck with his Lydiard shoes for the final race.

This particular pair may come from this period, or from the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 when Snell wore adidas shoes.

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.

After winning gold in the men’s 800m at the Rome Olympics in 1960s, he was named New Zealand Sportsman of the Year for 1960. He went on to win two more golds at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 in an unrepeated double of the men's 800m and 1500m.

In 2000 he was named New Zealand’s Sports Champion of the 20th Century. During his running career he won three Olympic gold medals, 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. Lydiard went on to inspire the international explosion of jogging for health and fitness.