Bond lasts into golden years | Bay of Plenty Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Bay of Plenty

Living thousands of kilometres apart, and 50 years on from an historic hour at the 1960 Olympics, Peter Snell and Murray Halberg both exhibit faint bemusement mixed with a sharp recall of their track-running gold medal-winning heroics.

The memory of that golden day in Rome still burns clear, as first Snell - a barrel-chested 21-year-old virtual unknown - powered to a shock one minute 46.3 seconds win over 800m.

It happened half an hour before Halberg, whippet-thin and wiry, ran himself to a standstill in taking the 5000m in 13min 43.4sec.

Two medal ceremonies, two black tracksuited figures atop the victory dais, watching as the New Zealand flag flew high to the strains of God Save the Queen. It was September 2, 1960 - the first time New Zealand had won two Olympic golds on the same day, let alone in the same arena.

This week the pair took time to recall that special day: Snell, 71, from his home in Dallas, Texas, and Halberg, 77, from Waiheke Island, near Auckland.

There are remarkable similarities in how they remember the day, with its dream-like quality and sheer thrill of achievement still very much to the fore.

Both approached their races with complete confidence, with the conditioning and pre-race tactics of coach Arthur Lydiard giving them a huge boost of self-belief.

Snell, with a modest world ranking of 25th, could easily have been overwhelmed at the history and grandeur of the Olympics in an ancient Italian city. Instead, his focus was complete.

He bypassed the opening ceremony without a second thought - his heats starting the next day - "I didn't think it would be too good for my chances standing out in the sun the day before", and his tactics for the final were clear.

"My pre-race plan was to make a race-winning move along the back stretch of the last lap, but unfortunately the pace was too fast," he remembers.

"I think I wrote off my chances right there, as I sort of stayed in on the pole line unable to go round the field."

But as the five contenders came out of the last bend, a demanding schedule started to take toll. As the others faded, Snell powered on, upgrading his expectations to fourth, to bronze, to silver, then an unbelievable gold.

"With about 20 yards to go I drew level with Roger Moens, and saw an unbroken tape just ahead of me. I wasn't too sure where he was because he was running wide, two lanes away from me.

"I flung myself at the tape and that was it.

"So my recollection as a competitor of actually pulling that off, was sort thrilling and dream-like - 'golly, this is happening to me'. I was a bit of an unknown, and now I was a gold medallist."

Snell also had a superb position in which to view Halberg's race. Kept on the side of the track, awaiting his medal ceremony, an elated Snell treated his vanquished rivals to an insider's description of the race.

"I had a beautiful close up view of Murray's race and I knew what his strategy was going to be, so I sort of boasted about it to the other two medallists, George Kerr and Roger Moens."

Halberg arrived at the Olympics near the peak of his powers, a solid base of international experience adding to his confidence, and with a precise knowledge of what he needed to do.

"Earlier in my career, my focus was so intense and I was such a determined young athlete, it was in retrospect a lot of my undoing, why I never performed too well at my first Commonwealth Games and Olympics," he said.

"But by the time I got to Rome I was terribly mindful of the fact that you must be aware of everything that's going on.

"Your concentration is certainly there, but you must be mindful of everything that's going on around you. It's an inner resolve."

That awareness meant Halberg knew Snell had won, even if he didn't see the race, as he was warming up on an adjacent track. After 50 years he can clearly recall details: the brick-red track, lush green infield, the statues peppering the perimeter. And the race.

Lydiard's strategy mirrored Halberg's winning tactics over three miles at the 1958 Cardiff Empire Games.

Three laps from home, he let fly and didn't ease up until he fell over the finish line, clutching the tape and spent beyond belief. His rivals thought he had miscounted the laps, and realised too late he had not.

"I had so much confidence and faith in Arthur's training methods and his race plans, that I knew exactly what I had to do," Halberg said.

"There was no making up my mind once the gun went off how the race was to be run. It was our plan, and the execution was to be done, and to be done precisely and with conviction."

After that extraordinary day, both comment on the connection it sealed.

Halberg: "It's been interesting, people have always thought of that day within terms of Peter and myself on that same Rome track on the same day within the same hour performing. It makes for quite an incredible bond between us."

And Snell: "Ever since, I've felt very close to Murray as a result of what we did together that afternoon. That was just stunning, because it's not as though New Zealand wins that many gold medals anyway ... here we were, one afternoon, and we knocked off the 800m and 5000m back-to-back. Seeing the New Zealand flag raised twice has never been so special."

Back to the present, both seem surprised at finding themselves in their 70s.

Snell has been sabotaged by his previously phenomenal heart, so plans to return to New Zealand to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the double gold had to be shelved.

Just over a year ago, he was diagnosed with a heart condition which forced him to curtail intensive exercise. Helped by an implanted defribillator and heart drugs, Snell still exercises, though less than previously. Cycling, for example, is good while racquetball is not - his last collapse while playing resulted in a heartbeat of about 250 beats per minute.

Snell admits unexpected heart problems caused him to take stock.

"This did get my attention. I thought I'd better make sure I do some other things I want to do while I have the opportunity. But there's no reason I can't live a pretty long life."

Halberg is philosophical about Snell's health problems: "He's aware of it, he's living to his capacity and he's living well. The fact is we're both in our 70s now anyway, but these days that's not considered old. I hope!"

Halberg rates the establishment of the Halberg Trust - honouring sporting excellence and giving opportunity for young people with disabilities to participate in active recreation - as the major bonus of his golden exploits.

"It's meant I've been able to have a voice and gather good people around me to fulfil these aims ... in many ways, the true legacy for me is the work of the Halberg Trust."

Halberg ends the interview with a courteous: "Thank you for remembering."

Who could forget?