It is the new owner of the black singlet Sir Peter Snell wore when he won gold medals in the 800m and 1500m at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, having bought the item at an auction for $122,500 earlier this week.
New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame chief executive Ron Palenski is not convinced Te Papa is the right home for Snell's singlet and he would like to see it on display at the Sports Hall of Fame at the Dunedin Railway Station.
"Te Papa does not have a great history of telling the story of New Zealand sport,'' Palenski said.
"Most people who go there are a bit surprised that they come away without learning anything about New Zealand sport. Te Papa know that - they know what people think.''
Palenski said he had not approached Te Papa about loaning the item but planned to do so.
"There has been no discussion whatsoever about it coming here and we don't have anything of theirs on loan.
"If it was going to happen, we would need to talk about it at some stage and it would be driven by Peter. Even though he doesn't own it, if Peter said to them he would prefer it to be here, they would probably look kindly on that. I just don't know.
"It would fit in very nicely here and that is what we are here for.''
Palenski was open to the idea of expanding the Sports Hall of Fame's reach but would not like to see it relocated despite the challenges of operating out of Dunedin.
The Hall of Fame returned a loss of $32,747 during the last financial period and funding remains a challenge.
"I think in the long term we should have an arrangement with Te Papa in that we stay in Dunedin as the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame, but we have a presence in Te Papa which could include things like Peter Snell's singlet.
"It would be a challenge wherever we were unless people front up with money. Certainly, if it was in Wellington we would probably get bigger numbers but then there was a rugby museum in Auckland that lasted about a year and it just flopped because there is just too much going on.
"I'm perfectly happy that we are here. And any museum that does not have guaranteed Government assistance finds it challenging.''
