Skip to main content

Story: Sport and the nation

Cartoon about Olympic runners, 1960

Image
Cartoon about Olympic runners, 1960

When Peter Snell and Murray Halberg won gold medals at the 1960 Rome Olympics in the 800 metres and 5,000 metres respectively, the two became instant national heroes. As this cartoon suggests, they briefly upstaged rugby heroes in New Zealand popular culture.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: A-349-004

by Nevile Lodge

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Jock Phillips, Sport and the nation – Strong men and women, 1945 to 1970, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/cartoon/41211/cartoon-about-olympic-runners-1960 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Jock Phillips, published 26 March 2013.