Peter Wells (23 May 1929 – 5 January 2018) was a British-born athlete who competed in the High Jump at the 1952 and 1956 Summer Olympics.

After the 1950 Empire Games in Auckland, Wells didn't travel back to England with the rest of the team, preferring to stay and settle in Christchurch, New Zealand.

He lived in New Zealand for the rest of his life, apart from a short period in 1952 when he returned to England in order to qualify for the 1952 Summer Olympics.

[6][7] Wells first big meeting was the Public Schools’ championships of 1946 held on the University of London track at Motspur Park in Surrey, in which he came 3rd with 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m).

Wells and Pavitt maintained a close and friendly rivalry for several years, and were referred to as "The Heavenly Twins".

Two weeks later, Wells and Pavitt competed for the Southern Counties in an inter-area match at St. George Grammar School playing fields at Whitehall, Bristol.

Coming from an English winter with no available indoor training facilities, and then five weeks on a boat journey to New Zealand was not ideal preparation for Wells.

[30] In July 1954, Wells represented New Zealand for the first time, at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver.

Later in the Games, when many of the British athletes had left the village, Wells switched camps and moved in with the New Zealand team.

In the men's high jump competition, Wells, progressed through the qualifying rounds, clearing 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in).

[23] It was 14 years before the New Zealand record was broken by William R. (Bill) Speirs on 1 March 1969, with a leap of 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m).

[35][36] A year earlier, on 13 January 1968, Arthur W Jordan of Auckland had cleared 6 ft 7+3⁄4 in (2.03 m), but was unable to claim the record because of a technical mistake.

Peter Heidenstrom, athletics commentator and historian,[38] described Wells' Western roll as "finely controlled, precise, a beautiful thing to watch".