#Roger bannister quotw full

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. It continues, however, to be run by many top runners as a glamour event.Birthday: 03/23/29 Mile PR: 3:58.8 - 1954Ĭollege: Exeter College, Merton College, Oxford & St. Because a mile is not a metric measurement, it is not a regular track event nor featured in the Olympics. A “sub-four” is still a notable time, but top international runners now routinely accomplish the feat. His world record in the mile did not stand long, and the record continued to be lowered with increasingly controlled climatic and surface conditions, more accurate timing devices, and improvements in training and running techniques. In 1975, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. He later earned a medical degree from Oxford and became a neurologist.

#Roger bannister quotw full

At the end of the year, Bannister retired from athletic competition to pursue his medical career full time and in 1955 recounted his experiences in the book The Four Minute Mile. As soon as the first part of his score was announced–“three minutes…”–the crowd erupted in pandemonium.īannister went on to win British and Empire championships in the mile run, and the European title in the 1,500-meter event in 1954. Thereafter, Bannister threw in all his reserves and broke the tape in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds. Bannister took the lead with about 350 yards to go and passed an unofficial timekeeper at the 1,500-meter mark in 3 minutes 43 seconds, thus equaling the world’s record for that distance. For the first half-mile, Brasher led the field, with Bannister close behind, and then another runner took up the lead and reached the three-quarter-mile mark in 3 minutes 0.4 seconds, with Bannister at 3 minutes 0.7 seconds. In a carefully planned race, Bannister was aided by Chris Brasher, a former Cambridge runner who acted as a pacemaker. A considerable crosswind was blowing across the track as the mile race was set to begin.Īt 6 p.m., the starting gun was fired. Conditions were far from ideal it had been windy and raining.

On May 6, 1954, he came to the Iffley Road track in Oxford for the annual match between the Amateur Athletic Association and Oxford University. As he prepared himself for his first competitive race of the 1954 season, Bannister researched the mechanics of running and trained using new scientific methods he developed. In 19, he won British championships in the mile run. Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London. Roger Bannister, born in Harrow, England, in 1929, was a top mile-runner while a student at the University of Oxford and at St. Despite, or perhaps because of, the psychological mystique surrounding the four-minute barrier, several runners in the early 1950s dedicated themselves to being the first to cross into the three-minute zone. The world record for a mile was 4 minutes and 1.3 seconds, set by Gunder Hagg of Sweden in 1945. Bannister, who was running for the Amateur Athletic Association against his alma mater, Oxford University, won the mile race with a time of 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds.įor years, so many athletes had tried and failed to run a mile in less than four minutes that people made it out to be a physical impossibility. In Oxford, England, 25-year-old medical student Roger Bannister cracks track and field’s most notorious barrier: the four-minute mile.