Our new queen had been crowned the year before, Everest had been climbed in 1953. “I thought it would be right for Britain to try to get this,” Bannister said in 2012. He also wanted to deliver something special for his country. “As it became clear that somebody was going to do it, I felt that I would prefer it to be me,” Bannister said in an AP interview. Bannister, Landy and American miler Wes Santee were all threatening to break the mark and it became a matter of who would get there first. But, criticized by the British media and disappointed in his own performance, he decided to keep running, dedicating himself to beating the 4-minute mile and winning gold at the ’54 Empire Games.īy 1954, Hagg’s record mile time had stood for nine years. Had he won Olympic gold that day, Bannister almost certainly would have retired. With his rhythm thrown off, Bannister finished fourth in a final won by Josy Barthel of Luxembourg.

Just before the games, he learned that organizers had added an extra round of heats, meaning he would have to run on three consecutive days.

By modern standards, his daily half-hour workout was remarkably light.īannister was considered the favorite for the Helsinki gold in the 1,500 meters – the shorter metric mile distance run in the Olympics. The 19-year-old was selected as a “possible” for the British Olympic team, but decided he wasn’t ready and focused on preparing for the 1952 Helsinki Games.īy then, Bannister was a full-time medical student and had to juggle his studies with his training. With the 1948 London Olympics approaching, Bannister was running mile times of around 4:10. “I knew from this day that I could develop this newfound ability,” he reflected in later life. Instead of dropping out of the race as pacers normally do, he kept running and beat the field by 20 yards. “I made up my mind then when I got to Oxford, I would take up running seriously,” Bannister said.Īs a first-year student on an academic scholarship at Oxford, Bannister caught his coaches’ attention while running as a pacemaker in a mile race on March 22, 1947. They watched British middle-distance star Sydney Wooderson, who had emerged as a rival to the trio of Swedish runners who had taken the mile world record down close to the 4-minute mark. While he will forever be remembered for his running, Bannister considered his long medical career in neurology as his life’s greatest accomplishment.īannister’s passion for running took off in 1945 when his father took him to a track meet at London’s White City Stadium, which was built to host the 1908 Olympics. Bannister regarded that as his greatest race because it came in a competitive championship against his fiercest rival. “It’s amazing that more people have climbed Mount Everest than have broken the 4-minute mile,” Bannister said in an interview with the Associated Press in 2012.īannister followed up his 4-minute milestone a few months later by beating Australia’s John Landy in the “Miracle Mile” or “Mile of the Century” at the Empire Games in Vancouver, British Columbia with both men going under 4 minutes. He will be greatly missed.”īannister’s time of 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds captured the world’s imagination and buoyed the spirits of Britons still suffering through post-war austerity. “He banked his treasure in the hearts of his friends.”īritish Prime Minister Theresa May remembered Bannister as a “British sporting icon whose achievements were an inspiration to us all. He was “surrounded by his family who were as loved by him, as he was loved by them,” the family said in a statement Sunday. Bannister died peacefully in Oxford on Saturday at the age of 88.

Roger bannister first 4 minute mile