Arthur Lydiard

Arthur Lydiard

Arthur Leslie Lydiard, ONZ, OBE (6 July 1917 – 11 December 2004) was a New Zealand runner and athletics coach. He has been lauded as one of the outstanding athletics coaches of all time and is credited with popularizing the sport of running and making it commonplace across the sporting world. His training methods are based on a strong endurance base and periodisation.

Lydiard competed in the Men's Marathon at the 1950 British Empire Games in Auckland, coming thirteenth with a time of 2h:54m:51.6s.

Lydiard presided over New Zealand's golden era in world track and field during the 1960s sending Murray Halberg, Peter Snell and Barry Magee to the podium at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Under Lydiard's tutelage Snell went on to double-gold at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Athletes subsequently coached by him or influenced by his coaching methods included such luminaries as Rod Dixon, John Walker, Dick Quax and Dick Tayler.

He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1962 and in 1990 was made an Additional Member of the Order of New Zealand. In 1972 he received Finland's Grand Master of the Order of the White Rose of Finland. He also became a life member of Athletics New Zealand in 2003.

Arthur Lydiard died 11 December 2004 of a suspected heart attack, in Texas, while on a lecture tour.