![]() Leather, who had only started running two years previously - after being inspired to take up the sport by watching the Helsinki Olympics on television - was already known to most of them. A tall, striking 21-year-old athlete called Diane Leather, whose looks reminded many of Audrey Hepburn, had set a British all-comers best in the 880 yards. No doubt many of them were congratulating themselves for having turned up, as there had already been some gripping action. Photographs of the day show women in headscarves and men in flat caps standing beside the railings and watching the local runners. There was a modest crowd at the Midlands Women's AAA Championships at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium on 29 May, 1954. Yet few even remember the name of the woman miler. The anniversary of his world record on 6 May is being marked by several high-profile sporting events around Britain, the publication of four books, and a BBC2 documentary. That athlete, Roger Bannister, became a household name, and his achievement was recognised by a knighthood. Again, a previously unattainable barrier was broken - this time of four minutes. Just 23 days previously, on a cinder running-track some 70 miles away, another British athlete had also run a mile faster than anyone thought possible. But because the athlete was a woman, her world-best performance did not count as an official record. Not only was the time the fastest ever recorded, but it broke a barrier that had hitherto appeared unbreakable - five minutes. Roger Bannister, the man who made the mile, The Mile, passed away on Saturday, March 3, 2018.įUN FACTS: Bannister, who later became a famed neurologist, became Sir Roger Bannister, who was knighted in 1975 by Queen Elizabeth for his contributions as a runner and physician.Fifty years ago next month, on an English cinder running-track, a British athlete ran a mile faster than many believed possible. In November 2005, Forbes magazine named his historic sub-4 clocking the Greatest Athletic Achievement of the past 150 years! The Briton was also the inaugural recipient of the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year award for 1954.ĭid you know? As chairman of the British Sports Council (1971-74), he gathered a group of chemists to develop the first ever test for anabolic steroids. In his career, Bannister only bested 4 minutes twice, but in two epic, still discussed Mile races, and also in 1954, he won the 1500m gold medal at the European Championships in Bern, Switzerland - this was his last competitive race. ![]() For the first time in the same Mile race, two men broke 4 minutes with Bannister clocking a PR 3:58.8 followed by the Aussie in 3:59.6. This thrilling race has been called The Mile of the Century or Miracle Mile. His world record only lasted 46 days, but its historic and iconic importance resonates today in the sport and beyond.Īt the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, Canada, Bannister beat the only other man at the time to run sub-4 minutes, John Landy of Australia. ![]() ![]() On Thursday, at Oxford’s Iffley Road track, the 1952 Olympian ran 3:59.4. Roger Bannister of Great Britain etched his name into the history books by becoming the first man to break the "once thought impossible if not fatal", but magical 4 minute barrier in the Mile. Birthday: 03/23/29 Mile PR: 3:58.8 - 1954Ĭollege: Exeter College, Merton College, Oxford & St. ![]()
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