Athletics: Snell hailed by Coe

British athletics great Sebastian Coe has described New Zealand's Peter Snell as the last of the great middle-distance all-rounders.

In the lead-up to the Commonwealth Games, Coe bemoaned the lack of 800m-1500m double exponents, with most modern athletes focusing on one event or the other.

Coe was accomplished himself over both distances in the 1980s, but in a column for the Daily Telegraph newspaper he said Snell was "the most exceptional at it in the modern era".

The New Zealander won the 800m Olympic gold at Rome in 1960 and four years later won both middle-distance events at the Tokyo Games. He set multiple world records during his career.

"The immensely-strong Snell in full flow could have been wearing the silver fern of the All Blacks," Coe said.

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