On 21 October 1964, nine men lined up for the Tokyo Olympic 1500m final. Three minutes and 38.1 seconds later, New Zealand’s Peter Snell became the first man in 44 years to complete an Olympic 800m/1500m double.

The late Peter Snell, New Zealand’s three-time Olympic middle-distance champion, set six ratified world records. Yet unbeknown until late last year, Snell had always been missing the plaques commemorating two of those world records run in 1964.

To kick-start our new ‘fab five’ series, we highlight a quintet of world-class performances which were all produced in the first month of the year.

24 November 2012 – Barcelona, Spain – New Zealand’s three-time Olympic middle-distance champion Peter Snell and Kenya’s 1968 and 1972 Olympic 1500m and 3000m Steeplechase champion, respectively, appeared at the press point at the IAAF Centenary Gala in Barcelona. These were some of the highlights.