A grounded high-flyer
Peter Wells aimed for the highest heights and reached them. The decorated high jumper broke national records, held backto-back titles and competed at the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and British Empire Games, holding the New Zealand record for 14 years.
The much-loved husband, father, grandfather and greatgrandfather died on January 5 after a short illness, aged 88.
The Christchurch man, who was raised in England, was a stalwart of New Zealand athletics.
Born in London on May 23, 1929, Peter was the third child of Cecil and Ethel Wells. As a youngster, he was a keen sprinter, before taking after his father and older brother and switching to high jump and hurdles at school meets.
A dedicated sportsman, he pored over sporting scrapbooks in the school library and slowly mastered the western roll – a style characterised by the jumper taking off from the leg nearer to the bar – as his preferred technique.
Chris Wells recalled his father speaking of an early natural ability and said he ‘‘possess[ed] considerable natural spring’’.
His father was often tempted to jump and touch over-hanging branches, Chris said.
‘‘I felt I could stay up there at the peak of the leap,’’ Peter had said. ‘‘I had no idea I had any special ability as a jumper, apart from knowing I could beat boys of my age group.’’
Peter quickly started collecting local titles, but claimed his first major win in 1947 as the first English schoolboy to jump 1.82 metres, smashing the previous best of 1.79m.
Two years later, as a 20-year-old, he followed it up with a 1.99m jump, better than the gold medal jump in the London Olympics the previous year and launching his sporting career.
After two years of compulsory army service, Peter accepted a spot in the 1950 British Empire Games, which later became known as the Commonwealth Games, in Auckland.
It marked his first visit to New Zealand, before he represented Great Britain in the 1952 Olympics in Finland.
The squad competed in Invercargill, Dunedin, Timaru, Christchurch, Nelson and Wellington. Peter loved the relaxed Kiwi vibe and the promise of a simpler lifestyle in New Zealand.
He abandoned his plans to return to England and settled in Christchurch, working a clerical job with a jute sack merchant while continuing to pursue his athletic career.
He went on to become the national high jump champion seven times, including a run of six back-to-back titles from 1952 to 1957. He broke the New Zealand high jump record with a 2.02m leap – the highest jump of his career – in 1954.
It was 14 years before that record was broken. In July of the same year, Peter represented New Zealand for the first time at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, finishing fourth.
Olympic eligibility rules meant having already represented Great Britain in Finland, Peter was ineligible to switch his allegiance to New Zealand for the Olympics in Melbourne in 1956. Peter briefly returned to his old British team, eventually finishing 16th.
Sports were the foundation of Peter’s life. He was a member of Harewood Golf Club for many years, enjoyed playing table tennis, and was a keen cyclist well into his 80s and rode 160 kilometres every week.
He refereed rugby for years, was a passionate gardener, was active in Senior Net – an organisation specialising in adult computer and internet education – and Probus clubs.
An accountant for most of his adult life, Peter worked for Mckendrick Brothers, Burroughs, NZ Motor Corporation, Ballins Group, and Pyne Gould Guinness.
Apart from a brief return to England in 1952, a year in Auckland, and a year in Wellington, Peter stayed in Christchurch with Shirley Grimwood, his wife of 66 years, for the rest of his life.
In a joint statement, his family said Peter was ‘‘patient, calm, easygoing and positive’’ and had a ‘‘glass half-full’’ personality.
His children said their father was modest about his athletic achievements and most people would have had no idea he had done so well.