December 17 Birthdays

1938
Peter George Snell, New Zealand, middle-distance runner. Coached by Arthur Lydiard, Peter Snell won gold medals in the 800m at the 1960 (Rome) Olympic Games, in the 800m at the 1964 (Tokyo) Olympic Games, and in the 1,500m at the 1964 (Tokyo) Olympic Games. He was also the gold medalist in the 880-yard run and the mile at the 1962 (Perth) Commonwealth Games. Snell set world records in the mile (3:54.4) in 1962, in the 800m (1:44.3) in 1962, in the mile (3:54.1) in 1964, and in the 1,000m (2:16.6) in 1964. He abruptly retired from running in 1965.

1966
Yuko Arimori, Japan, long-distance runner. Arimori won the silver medal in the 1992 (Barcelona) Olympic Games marathon(2:32:49) and the bronze medal in the 1996 (Atlanta) Olympic Games marathon (2:28:39), both times finishing one place behind Russian marathoner Valentina Yegorova. Arimori also placed third in the 1999 Boston Marathon (2:26:39).