Peter Snell, a middle-distance runner from New Zealand who set world records in five events and became a three-time Olympic gold medalist in the 1960s, died on Thursday at his home in Dallas. He was 80.

His wife, Miki, confirmed the death to The New Zealand Herald. She said he had had a longstanding heart ailment.

Snell was a virtual unknown on the international track scene when he surged in the stretch of the 800-meter race at the 1960 Rome Olympics to overtake Roger Moens of Belgium, who held the world record.

“I went to Rome hoping to make the final,” Snell was quoted as saying in SunMedia, a conglomerate of newspapers in New Zealand. “It was hard to believe that suddenly I was an Olympic champion. I recall looking up to the giant results board above the track and seeing P G Snell NZL at the top of the list. That was one of the great thrills of my life.”