sub-4-minute mile | Impressions

Blue plaque recording the first sub-4-minute mile run by Roger Bannister on 6 May 1954 at Oxford University's Iffley Road Track. (Photograph by Jonathan Bowen) — Blue plaque recording the first sub-4-minute mile run by Roger Bannister on 6 May 1954 at Oxford University’s Iffley Road Track. (Photograph by Jonathan Bowen)

Forbes named the significant feat of breaking the four-minute barrier by Roger Banister as one of the greatest athletic achievements in the history of athletics.

On June 21, 1954, at an international meet in Turku, Finland, John Landy became the second man, after Roger Bannister, to achieve a sub-4-minute mile. He clocked a world record time of 3:57.9, ratified by the IAAF as 3:58.0 owing to the rounding rules then in effect. That record held for more than three years.

Though Roger Banister had already created history on May 6, 1954, some felt the flagrant pacing tainted this achievement. They felt that world records should be created through pure racing as John Landy did. They said that Banister, Brasher, and Chataway had acted within the letters of the amateur rules, but not within the spirit of those rules. The Australians argued that Landy’s 3:58 in Turku was the first legitimate sub-4. But Roger Banister did not pay any heed to his detractors.

The face of John Landy in second place in the Fifth Empire games (30 July 30 to August 7, 1954) in Vancouver, Canada (Source: thebounce.co.za)

Roger Banister was pitted against the Australian in the Fifth British Empire and Commonwealth Games held at the Empire Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, from July 30 – August 7, 1954.

It was at these games that the “Miracle Mile” took place between Roger Bannister and John Landy on August 7, 1954. This was the first time these two, the only sub-four-minute mile runners at that time appeared in the same race. John Landy was still holding the world record. It was also the first time two runners broke four minutes in the same race.

Landy led for most of the race, building a lead of 10 yards in the third lap. Roger showed the highly acclaimed Landy that he was still the boss by dashing on the final bend of the fourth lap and winning the event in 3:58.8 with Landy 0.8 seconds behind him. Both Bannister and Landy have pointed out that the crucial moment of the race was when Landy looked over his left shoulder to gauge Bannister’s position and Bannister burst past him on the right.

A sculpture of Roger Bannister and John Landy by Jack Harman placed outside of the Empire Stadium to commemorate the Miracle Mile. (Photo: Paul Joseph)

In 1967, inspired by a photograph by Vancouver Sun photographer Charlie Warner, Vancouver sculptor Jack Harman created a larger-than-life bronze sculpture of the two men. In this sculpture, Landy looks over his left shoulder to see his rival’s position and Bannister sprints past him on the right.

This sculpture stood for many years at the entrance to Empire Stadium. After the demolition of the stadium, the sculpture was moved a short distance away to the Hastings and Renfrew entrance of the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) fairgrounds. John Landy once quipped about this sculpture:

“While Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt for looking back, I am probably the only one ever turned into bronze for looking back.”

On August 29, 1954 Roger Bannister won the 1500 metres, the so-called metric mile, at the European Championships in Bern in a time of 3:43.8, a championship record.

After the Bern meet, Roger retired from athletics to concentrate on his work as a junior doctor and pursued a career in neurology.

St. Mary’s Hospital (London), Imperial College School of Medicine have named a lecture theatre after Roger Bannister. It houses the stopwatch used to time the race on display, stopped at 3:59.

Later, Roger Banister became the first Chairman of the Sports Council, now known as Sport England. In 1975, Sir Roger Banister was knighted for this service. Under his aegis, there was a rapid increase in central and local government funding of sports centres and other sports facilities.

Sir Roger Bannister at the prize presentation of the 2009 Teddy Hall relay race. (© Pruneau / Wikimedia Commons)

Now at the age of 85 Roger Banister suffers from Parkinson’s disease. It was one of the diseases he specialised as a neurologist.

By the end of 1957, 16 other runners also broke the four-minute mile barrier.

The International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as the International Association of Athletics Federations recognized the first world record in the mile for men (athletics) in 1913. Since 1976, the mile is the only non-metric distance recognized by the IAAF for record purposes. Up to June 21, 2009, the IAAF has ratified 32 world records in the event.

Time	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Venue
4:14.4	John Paul Jones	USA	May 31, 1913	Allston, Mass.
4:12.6	Norman Taber	USA	July 16, 1915	Allston, Mass.
4:10.4	Paavo Nurmi	Finland	August 23, 1923	Stockholm
4:09.2	Jules Ladoumègue	France	October 4, 1931	Paris
4:07.6	Jack Lovelock	NZ	July 15, 1933	Princeton, N.J.
4:06.8	Glenn Cunningham	USA	June 16, 1934	Princeton, N.J.
4:06.4	Sydney Wooderson	UK	August 28, 1937	Motspur Park
4:06.2	Gunder Hägg	Sweden	July 1, 1942	Gothenburg
4:06.2	Arne Andersson	Sweden	July 10, 1942	Stockholm
4:04.6	Gunder Hägg	Sweden	September 4, 1942	Stockholm
4:02.6	Arne Andersson	Sweden	July 1, 1943	Gothenburg
4:01.6	Arne Andersson	Sweden	July 18, 1944	Malmö
4:01.4	Gunder Hägg	Sweden	July 17, 1945	Malmö
3:59.4	Roger Bannister	UK	May 6, 1954	Oxford
3:58.0	John Landy	Australia	June 21, 1954	Turku
3:57.2	Derek Ibbotson	UK	July 19, 1957	London
3:54.5	Herb Elliott	Australia	August 6, 1958	Dublin
3:54.4	Peter Snell	NZ	January 27, 1962	Wanganui
3:54.1	Peter Snell	NZ	November 17, 1964	Auckland
3:53.6	Michel Jazy	France	June 9, 1965	Rennes
3:51.3	Jim Ryun	USA	July 17, 1966	Berkeley, Cal.
3:51.1	Jim Ryun	USA	June 23, 1967	Bakersfield, Cal.
3:51.0	Filbert Bayi	Tanzania	May 17, 1975	Kingston
3:49.4	John Walker	NZ	August 12, 1975	Gothenburg
3:49.0	Sebastian Coe	UK	July 17, 1979	Oslo
3:48.8	Steve Ovett	UK	July 1, 1980	Oslo
3:48.53	Sebastian Coe	UK	August 19, 1981	Zürich
3:48.40	Steve Ovett	UK	August 26, 1981	Koblenz
3:47.33	Sebastian Coe	UK	August 28, 1981	Brussels
3:46.32	Steve Cram	UK	July 27, 1985	Oslo
3:44.39	Noureddine Morceli	Algeria	September 5, 1993	Rieti
3:43.13	Hicham El Guerrouj	Morocco	July 7, 1999	Rome