Even today, when most of the world has gone metric and the mile record has fallen another 16 seconds since Bannister, the concept of a four-minute mile still has a magical aura – ask any runner who has broken it or barely missed it. The athletics equivalent of the Moon landing is surely Roger Bannister’s sub-four minute mile in Oxford in 1954. Maybe every generation needs its own iconic and pioneering achievement to celebrate and share. When Felix Baumgartner made his record-breaking fall from space in October 2012, there were some comments about it being our generation’s equivalent of Neil Armstrong’s first step on the Moon. He had helped shift the entire paradigm through which other runners viewed the world and in turn helped redefine what the human body could achieve.“This’ll make for an interesting chapter three-quarters of the way into my life story!” In a style that ramped up the anticipation and excitement and would later become a trademark during the countless record attempts he presided over, McWhirter gave a long pause as he delivered the race result.Īs he began announcing Bannister’s finishing time, he was rendered inaudible by the ecstatic crowd, which erupted upon hearing the word “three”, covering up confirmation that the winning time was 3:59:04 and history had been made.Īs is so often the case with world records, once Bannister proved a human could in fact run a mile under four minutes, it left the world stunned, and helped shatter a collective mental barrier.Īustralian John Landy bettered the Iffley Road record the following month with a time of 3 minutes 57.9 seconds, while in the three years that followed that historic day in Oxford, a further 15 runners would go on to also perform the same feat.īannister had changed the expectation of possibilities through the achievement of his high goal. Thus, when I got up from the track after collapsing at the finish line, I figured I was dead.” When remembering the end of the race, Bannister says: “Doctors and scientists said that breaking the four-minute mile was impossible, that one would die in the attempt. He would go on to introduce the race’s timekeeper and old university friend, Norris McWhirter, to the brewery’s owner, Sir Hugh Beaver, recommending him and his brother Ross as editors for the company’s new publication – a book that would compile superlatives to help settle pub arguments. The scene for Bannister’s finest moment was an early race in the 1954 season at Oxford University’s ramshackle Iffley Road track, during the annual match between the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA) and the university.Īlongside Bannister, the two other principal runners involved for the AAA were his friends Chris Chataway and Chris Brasher, with the attempt carefully planned between the three.Ĭhataway was an underbrewer at the Guinness Brewery in Park Royal, London. Inspired by his running hero Sydney Wooderson, who had made a remarkable comeback in 1945 by setting a new British record in the same event, Bannister set out to achieve the holy grail of athletics. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The following months saw Bannister toying with the idea of giving up athletics, before he decided to set himself a new goal of becoming the First man to run a mile in under four minutes. Born in Harrow, England, the then 25-year-old Oxford University medical student was regarded as Britain’s best middle-distance runner, but had recently experienced crushing disappointment after finishing fourth in the 1500 metres at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki – a race he had been widely expected to win.
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