Wikipedia

Roger Bannister

Sir Roger Gilbert BannisterCHCBEFRCP(23 March 1929 – 3 March 2018) was an Englishneurologistandmiddle-distance athletewho ran the first sub-4-minute mile.

Sir
Roger Bannister
CHCBEFRCP
Bannister in 2009
Personal information
Full nameRoger Gilbert Bannister
Born(1929-03-23)23 March 1929
Harrow,England[1]
Died3 March 2018(2018-03-03)(aged 88)
Oxford,England
Resting placeWolvercote Cemetery,Oxford, England
EducationExeter College, Oxford
Height187 cm (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Weight70 kg (154 lb)[1]
Master ofPembroke College, Oxford
In office
1985–1993
Preceded byGeoffrey Arthur
Succeeded byRobert Stevens
Sport
CountryGreat Britain
Sport
Events
Achievements and titles
Personalbests
Medal record
RepresentingEngland
British Empire and Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 1954 Vancouver 1 mile
RepresentingGreat Britain
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1954 Bern 1500 m
Bronze medal – third place 1950 Brussels 800 m

At the1952 Olympicsin Helsinki, Bannister set a British record in the1500 metresand finished in fourth place. This achievement strengthened his resolve to become the first athlete to finish themile runin under four minutes. He accomplished this feat on 6 May 1954 atIffley Road trackinOxford,withChris ChatawayandChris Brasherproviding the pacing. When the announcer,Norris McWhirter,declared "The time was three...", the cheers of the crowd drowned out Bannister's exact time, which was 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds. He had attained this record with minimal training, while practising as ajunior doctor.Bannister's record lasted just 46 days.

Bannister went on to become a neurologist and Master ofPembroke College, Oxford,before retiring in 1993. As Master of Pembroke, he was on the governing body ofAbingdon Schoolfrom 1986 to 1993.[3]When asked whether the 4-minute mile was his proudest achievement, he said he felt prouder of his contribution to academic medicine through research into the responses of the nervous system. Bannister was patron of theMSATrust. He was diagnosed withParkinson's diseasein 2011.[4]

Early life and education

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Bannister was born on 23 March 1929 inHarrow,London. His parents Ralph and Alice were both from working-class families inLancashire.Ralph had moved to London at the age of 15 to work in theCivil Service,and met Alice on a trip home.[5]They married in 1925, and had a daughter, Joyce, before Roger was born.[6]

The family moved toBathshortly after the outbreak ofWorld War IIwhen Ralph was relocated there, and Roger continued his education atCity of Bath Boys' School.[7]Here he discovered a talent forcross country running,winning the junior cross-country cup three consecutive times, which led to him being presented with a miniature replica trophy.[8]

During abombing raid on Bath,the family house was severely damaged as the Bannisters sheltered in the basement.[9]

In 1944, the family returned to London and Roger went toUniversity College School.[10]Bannister was accepted intoSt John's College, Cambridgebut the Senior TutorRobert Howland,a former Olympicshot putter,suggested that Bannister wait a year. After the year he proceeded to apply toExeter College, Oxfordand was accepted for a three-year degree in Medicine. [11]

Athletics career

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Early running career

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Bannister was inspired by milerSydney Wooderson's comeback in 1945. Eight years after setting the mile record and seeing it surpassed during the war years by the Swedish runnersArne AnderssonandGunder Hägg,Wooderson regained his old form and challenged Andersson over the distance in several races.[12]Wooderson lost to Andersson but set a British record of 4:04.2 inGothenburgon 9 September.

Like Wooderson, Bannister would ultimately set a mile record, see it broken, and then set a new personal best slower than the new record.

Bannister started his running career atOxfordin the autumn of 1946 at the age of 17. He had never worn running spikes previously or run on a track.[13]His training was light, even compared to the standards of the day, but he showed promise in running a mile in 1947 in 4:24.6 on only three weekly half-hour training sessions.[13]

He was selected as an Olympic "possible" in 1948 but declined as he felt he was not ready to compete at that level.[12]However, he was further inspired to become a great miler by watching the1948 Olympics.He set his training goals on the1952 Olympicsin Helsinki.[12]

In 1949, he improved in the 880-yard (804.67 m) run to 1:52.7 and won several mile races in 4:11.[13]Then, after a period of six weeks with no training, he came in third atWhite Cityin 4:14.2.

The year 1950 saw more improvements as he finished a relatively slow 4:13-mile on 1 July with an impressive 57.5 last quarter. Then, he ran theAAA880 in 1:52.1, losing toArthur Wint,and then ran 1:50.7 for the 800 m at the European Championships on 26 August,[2][14]placing third.[15]Chastened by this lack of success, Bannister started to train harder and more seriously.

His increased attention to training paid quick dividends, as he won a mile race in 4:09.9 on 30 December. Then in 1951 at thePenn Relays,Bannister broke away from the pack with a 56.7 final lap, finishing in 4:08.3. Then, in his biggest test to date, he won a mile race on 14 July in 4:07.8 at theAAAChampionships at White City before 47,000 people. The time set a meet record and he defeated defending championBill Nankevillein the process.

Bannister suffered defeat, however, whenYugoslavia's Andrija Otenhajmer, aware of Bannister's final-lap kick, took a 1500 m race inBelgrade25 August out at near-record pace, forcing Bannister to close the gap by the bell lap. Otenhajmer won in 3:47.0, though Bannister set a personal best finishing second in 3:48.4. Bannister was no longer seen as invincible.

His training was a very modern individualised mixture ofinterval traininginfluenced by coachFranz Stampflwith elements of blockperiodisation,fell runningand anaerobic elements of training which were later perfected byArthur Lydiard.[16]

Blue plaque at the Paddington Recreation Ground pavilion

From 1951 to 1954, Bannister trained at the track atPaddington Recreation GroundinMaida Valewhile he was a medical student at the nearbySt Mary's Hospital.There are two Bannister plaques at the pavilion, both unveiled by him on 10 September 2000; a circularblue plaqueand a rectangularhistoric plaquecontaining additional information.[17]According to the latter, Bannister was able to train for just an hour each day due to his medical studies.

1952 Olympics

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Bannister avoided racing after the 1951 season until late in the spring of 1952, saving his energy for Helsinki and the Olympics. He ran an 880-yard (800 m) run on 28 May 1952 in 1:53.00, followed by a 4:10.6-mile time-trial on 7 June,[18]proclaiming himself satisfied with the results. At theAAAchampionships, he skipped the mile and won the 880 in 1:51.5.[13]Then, 10 days before the Olympic final, he ran a3⁄4mile time trial in 2:52.9,[13]which gave him confidence that he was ready for the Olympics as he considered the time to be the equivalent of a four-minute mile.

His confidence soon dissipated, however, as it was announced there would be semi-finals for the 1500 m at the Olympics,[12][13]which he felt favoured runners who had much deeper training regimens than he did. When he ran his semi-final, Bannister finished fifth and thereby qualified for the final, but he felt "blown and unhappy".[13]

The1500 m finalon 26 July 1952 would prove to be one of the more dramatic in Olympic history.[19]The race was not decided until the final metres,Josy BarthelofLuxembourgprevailing in an Olympic-record 3:45.28 (3:45.1 by official hand-timing) with the next seven runners all under the old record.[12][19]Bannister finished fourth,[12]out of the medals, but set a British record of 3:46.30 (3:46.0) in the process.

New goal

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Roger Bannister winning a race in 1953.
Roger Bannister and John Landy at Iffley Road on the 50th anniversary of the four-minute mile 6 May 2004.

After his relative failure at the 1952 Olympics, Bannister spent two months deciding whether to give up running. He set himself on a new goal: to be the first man to run a mile in under four minutes.[12]Accordingly, he intensified his training and did hardintervals.[13]

On 2 May 1953, he made an attempt on the British record atOxford.Paced byChris Chataway,Bannister ran 4:03.6, shattering Wooderson's 1945 standard.[13]"This race made me realise that the four-minute mile was not out of reach," said Bannister.[20]

On 27 June 1953, a mile race was inserted into the programme of theSurreyschools athletic meeting. Australian runner Don Macmillan, ninth in the 1500 m at the 1952 Olympics, set a strong pace with 59.6 for one lap and 1:59.7 for two. He gave up after two and a half laps, butChris Brashertook up the pace. Brasher had jogged the race, allowing Bannister to lap him so he could be a fresh pace-setter. At3⁄4mile, Bannister was at 3:01.8, the record—and first sub-four-minute mile—in reach. But the effort fell short with a finish in 4:02.0, a time bettered by onlyArne Andersson(4:01.6 in 1944) andGunder Hägg(4:01.4 in 1945).[21]British officials would not allow this performance to stand as a British record, which, Bannister felt in retrospect, was a good decision. "My feeling as I look back is one of great relief that I did not run a four-minute mile under such artificial circumstances," he said.[21]

But other runners were making attempts at the four-minute barrier and coming close as well. AmericanWes Santeeran 4:02.4 on 5 June 1953, the fourth-fastest mile ever. And at the end of the year, AustralianJohn Landyran 4:02.0.[22]

Then early in 1954, Landy made some more attempts at the distance. On 21 January 1954, he ran 4:02.4 inMelbourne,then 4:02.6 on 23 February 1954, and at the end of the Australian season on 19 April he ran 4:02.6 again.

Bannister had been following Landy's attempts and was certain his Australian rival would succeed with each one. But knowing that Landy's season-closing attempt on 19 April would be his last until he travelled toFinlandfor another attempt, Bannister knew he had to make his attempt soon.

Sub-4-minute mile

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See also:Four-minute mile

This historic eventtook place on 6 May 1954 during a meet betweenBritish AAAandOxford UniversityatIffley Road TrackinOxford,watched by about 3,000 spectators.[23]With winds of up to twenty-five miles per hour (40 km/h) before the event,[23]Bannister had said twice that he preferred not to run, to conserve his energy and efforts to break the 4-minute barrier; he would try again at another meet. However, the winds dropped just before the race was scheduled to begin, and Bannister did run.

The pace-setters from his major 1953 attempts, futureCommonwealth Gamesgold medallistChristopher Chatawayfrom the 2 May attempt, and futureOlympic Gamesgold medallistChris Brasherfrom the 27 June attempt, combined to provide pacing for Bannister's run. The race[23]was broadcast live byBBC Radioand commentated by1924 Olympic100 metres championHarold Abrahams,ofChariots of Firefame.

Blue plaqueatOxford University'sIffley Road Track,recording the first sub-4-minutemile runby Roger Bannister on 6 May 1954

Bannister had begun his day at a hospital in London, where he sharpened his racing spikes and rubbed graphite on them so they would not pick up too much cinder ash. He took a mid-morning train fromPaddington Stationto Oxford, nervous about the rainy, windy conditions that afternoon.[12]

Being a dual-meet format, there were seven men entered in the mile: Alan Gordon, George Dole and Nigel Miller from Oxford University; and four British AAA runners: Bannister, his two pacemakers Brasher and Chataway, andTom Hulatt.Nigel Miller arrived as a spectator and he only realised that he was due to run when he read the programme. Efforts to borrow a running kit failed and he could not take part, thus reducing the field to six.[24]

The race went off as scheduled at 6:00 pm, and Brasher and Bannister went immediately to the front of the pack.[23]Brasher (wearing No. 44) led both the first lap in 58 seconds and the half-mile in 1:58, with Bannister (No. 41) tucked in behind, and Chataway (No. 42) a stride behind Bannister.[12]Chataway moved to the front after the second lap and maintained the pace with a 3:01 split at the final lap bell. Chataway continued to lead around the front turn until Bannister began his finishing kick with about 275 yards to go (just over half a lap), running the last lap in just under 59 seconds.[25]

The stadium announcer for the race wasNorris McWhirter,who went on to co-publish and co-edit theGuinness Book of Records.[26]He teased the crowd by delaying his announcement of Bannister's race time for as long as possible:[27]

Ladies and gentlemen, here is the result of event nine, the one mile: first, number forty one, R. G. Bannister, Amateur Athletic Association and formerly of Exeter and Merton Colleges, Oxford, with a time which is a new meeting and track record, and which—subject to ratification—will be a new English Native, British National, All-Comers, European, British Empire and World Record. The time was three...

The roar of the crowd drowned out the rest of the announcement. Bannister's time was 3 minutes 59.4 seconds.[13]

The claim that a four-minute mile was once thought to be impossible by "informed" observers was and is a widely propagated myth created by sportswriters and debunked by Bannister himself in his memoir,The Four Minute Mile(1955).

The reason the myth took hold was that four minutes was a round number that lay slightly out of reach of the world record (by just 1.4 seconds) for nine years, which was longer than it might otherwise have been due to the effect of theSecond World Warin interrupting athletic progress in the combatant countries.[citation needed]The Swedish runners,Gunder HäggandArne Andersson,in a series of head-to-head races in the period 1942–45, had alreadylowered the world mile recordby five seconds to the pre-Bannister record. Knowledgeable track fans are still most impressed by the fact that Bannister ran a four-minute mile on very low-mileage training by modern standards.[citation needed]

Just 46 days later, on 21 June 1954, Bannister's record was broken by his rival, John Landy, inTurku,Finland,with a time of 3 minutes 57.9 seconds, which theIAAFratified as 3 minutes 58.0 seconds due to the rounding rules then in effect.[22]

1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

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On 7 August, at the1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Gamesin Vancouver, B.C., Bannister, running for England, competed against Landy for the first time in a race billed as "The Miracle Mile". They were the only two men in the world to have broken the 4-minute barrier, with Landy still holding the world record.

Statue in Vancouver immortalising the moment in"The Miracle Mile"when Roger Bannister passedJohn Landy,with Landy looking back to gauge his lead

Landy led for most of the race, building a lead of 10 yards in the third lap (of four), but was overtaken on the last bend, and Bannister won in 3 min 58.8 s, with Landy 0.8 s behind in 3 min 59.6 s.[13][28]Bannister and Landy have both pointed out that the crucial moment of the race was that at the moment when Bannister decided to try to pass Landy, Landy looked over his left shoulder to gauge Bannister's position and Bannister burst past him on the right, never relinquishing the lead.

A larger-than-life bronze sculpture of the two men at that moment was created by Vancouver sculptorJack Harmanin 1967 from a photograph byVancouver Sunphotographer Charlie Warner and stood for many years at the entrance toEmpire Stadium;after the stadium was demolished the sculpture was moved a short distance away to the Hastings and Renfrew entrance of thePacific National Exhibition(PNE) fairgrounds. Regarding this sculpture, Landy quipped: "WhileLot's wifewas turned into a pillar of salt for looking back, I am probably the only one ever turned into bronze for looking back. "[29]

Bannister went on that season to win the so-calledmetric mile,the 1500 m, at theEuropean ChampionshipsinBern,Switzerland, on 29 August, with a championship record in a time of 3 min 43.8 s.[2]He retired from athletics late in 1954 to concentrate on his work as a junior doctor and to pursue a career inneurology.[30][31]He was appointed aCBEthe following year for "services to amateur athletics".[32]

Sports Council and knighthood

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Bannister later became the first Chairman of the Sports Council (now calledSport England) and wasknightedfor this service in 1975.[33]Under his patronage, central and local government funding of sports centres and other sports facilities was rapidly increased, and he also initiated the first testing for use ofanabolic steroidsin sport.[34]

Medical career

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After retiring from athletics in 1954, Bannister spent the next forty years practising medicine in the field ofneurology.In March 1957, he joined theRoyal Army Medical Corpsat Crookham, where he started his two years ofNational Service,with the rank oflieutenant.[35]

His major contribution to academic medicine was in the field ofautonomicfailure, an area of neurology focusing on illnesses characterised by the loss of certain automatic responses of the nervous system (for example, elevated heart rate when standing up). He ultimately published more than eighty papers, mostly concerned with theautonomic nervous system,cardiovascular physiology,andmultiple system atrophy.[36]He editedAutonomic Failure: A Textbook of Clinical Disorders of the Autonomic Nervous Systemwith C.J. Mathias, a colleague atSt Mary's,as well as five editions ofBrain and Bannister's Clinical Neurology.[36]

Bannister always said he was more proud of his contribution to medicine than his running career.[37]In 2014, Bannister said in an interview: "I'd rather be remembered for my work in neurology than my running. If you offered me the chance to make a great breakthrough in the study of the autonomic nerve system, I'd take that over the four minute mile right away. I worked in medicine for sixty years. I ran for about eight."[38]

Personal life

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The grave of Roger Bannister, Wolvercote Cemetery
Bannister with wife Moyra, son Clive and daughter Carol in 1959

In 1955, Bannister married the Swedish artist Moyra Elver Jacobsson inBasel,Switzerland.[39]Moyra Jacobsson-Bannister was the daughter of the Swedish economistPer Jacobsson,who served as managing director of theInternational Monetary Fund.

They had four children: Carol E. E. Bannister (b. 1957); Clive C. R. Bannister (b. 1959), an insurance industry executive;[40]Thurstan R. R. Bannister (b. July 1960), a company director in New York;[41]and Charlotte B. M. Bannister (b. 1963), now Charlotte Bannister-Parker, associate priest at theUniversity Church of St Mary the Virginin Oxford.[42]

In 2011, Bannister was diagnosed withParkinson's disease.[4]He died of pneumonia at theJohn Radcliffe Hospitalin Oxford on 3 March 2018,[43]at the age of 88, 20 days before his 89th birthday.[30][31]He is buried inWolvercote Cemeterynear Oxford. His widow, Lady Moyra Bannister, died in Oxford on 4 November 2022, at the age of 94.[44]

Legacy

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On the 50th anniversary of running the mile in under four minutes, Bannister was interviewed by theBBC's sports correspondentRob Bonnet.At the conclusion of the interview, Bannister was asked whether he looked back on the sub-4-minute mile as the most important achievement of his life. Bannister replied that he instead saw his subsequent forty years of practising medicine and some of the new procedures he introduced as being more significant. He also said that, in terms of athletic achievement, he felt his performances at the 1952 Olympics and the 1954 Commonwealth Games were more significant than running the sub-4-minute mile.

Ironically, although Roger Bannister is arguably the most famous record-setter in the mile, he is also the man who held the record for the shortest period of time, at least since theIAAFstarted to ratify records.[45]

Media

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For his efforts, Bannister was also made the inaugural recipient of theSports IllustratedSportsperson of the Yearaward for 1954 (awarded in January 1955) and is one of the few non-Americans recognised by the American-published magazine as such.

In a UK poll conducted byChannel 4in 2002, the British public voted Bannister's historic sub-4-minute mile as number 13 in the list of the100 Greatest Sporting Moments.[46]

Bannister is the subject of the ESPN filmFour Minutes(2005). This film is a dramatisation, its major departures from the factual record being the creation of a fictional character as Bannister's coach, who was actuallyFranz Stampfl,an Austrian, and secondly his meeting his wife, Moyra Jacobsson, in the early 1950s when in fact they met in London only a few months before the Miracle Mile itself took place. Bannister was portrayed byJamie Maclachlan.

Bannister: Everest on the Track, The Roger Bannister Storyis a 2016 TV documentary about his childhood and youth inWWIIand postwar Britain and the breaking of the 4-minute mile barrier, with interviews of participants and witnesses to the 1954 race, and later runners inspired by Bannister and his achievement, includingPhil Knightwho says that Roger Bannister inspired him to startNike.[47]

In the 1988 television mini-seriesThe Four Minute Mile,about the rivalry between Bannister, John Landy and Wes Santee to be first to break the 4-minute mile mark, Bannister was portrayed by actorRichard Huw.

Places

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In 1996 Pembroke College at the University of Oxford (where Bannister was Master for eight years) named a building in honour of his achievements. The Bannister Building, an 18th-century townhouse in Brewer Street, was converted to provide accommodation for graduate students. Following extensive refurbishments during 2011 and 2012, it became part of the building complex surrounding the Rokos Quad, and was then used for undergraduate accommodation.[48]

In March 2004St Mary's Hospital Medical Schoolnamed a lecture theatre after Bannister; on display is the stopwatch that was used to time the race, stopped at 3:59.[49]Bannister also gave his name to the trophy presented to the winning team in the annual athleticsvarsity matchbetweenImperial College School of MedicineandImperial College London,as well as the award given to the graduating doctor of Imperial College School of Medicine who has achieved most in the sporting community. Bannister also purchased the cup (which bears his name) awarded to the winning team in the annual United Hospitals Cross-Country Championship, organised byLondon Universities and Colleges Athletics.The championship is contested by the five medical schools in London and theRoyal Veterinary College.

In 2012 Bannister carried the Olympic flame at the site of his memorable feat, in theOxford University track stadiumnow named after him.[50]

Memorial stone in Westminster Abbey

On 28 September 2021 a memorial stone honouring Sir Roger, "pioneering neurologist, world champion runner", was unveiled inWestminster Abbey,in the area known as 'Scientists' corner'.[51][52]

Memorabilia

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The 50th anniversary of Bannister's achievement was marked by a commemorative British50-pence coin.The reverse of the coin shows the legs of a runner and a stopwatch (stopped at 3:59.4).[53]There were 9,032,500 minted.[54]The coin was re-struck for collector sets in 2019 as part of theRoyal Mint's'50 Years of the 50p coin', along with other designs.[55]

In the gallery of Pembroke College dining hall there is a cabinet containing over 80 exhibits covering Bannister's athletic career and including some academic highlights.[56]

Anniversary Races[note 1]

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On 6 May 2024, exactly seventy years after Bannister's sub-four minute mile, hundreds of runners converged inOxfordto run a mile in Bannister's honor. The event saw thousands run a "Community Mile", and several races for elite runners on the Iffley Track. In the elite mile, four athletes broke the four minute barrier, withItaly'sOssama Meslekclocking the fastest mile, at 3:56.15.[57]

This is the second time Iffley Track hosted an anniversary event for Bannister's achievement, with the previous time being in 2004.[57]

Retired, accomplished milers includingSteve Cram,Hicham El Guerrouj,Filbert Bayi,Noureddine Morceli,andEamonn Coghlanattended, all of whom have had themile world recordto their name. Bayi ran 3:51.0 in May of 1975, holding the mile world record for three months until August of 1975, whenJohn WalkerofNew Zealandran 3:49.4. Cram ran 3:46.32 in 1985, holding themile world recorduntilNoureddine MorceliofAlgeriaran 3:44.39 in 1993. Finally, on 7 July 1999, El Guerrouj ran 3:43.13, the current mile world record to this day, which is over sixteen seconds faster than Bannister's 3:59.4. Although not an outdoor record, Coghlan set an indoor mile world record of 3:49.78 in 1983, which was bettered by El Guerrouj in 1997 who ran 3:48.45.[57][58][59]

Awards and honours

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Bannister received many honours for his achievements in sports and medicine. He wasknightedin the1975 New Year Honours,[60]and appointedMemberof theOrder of the Companions of Honour(CH) in the2017 New Year Honoursfor services to sport.[61]

Bannister was anHonorary Fellowof bothExeter College[62]andMerton College,[63]where he studied at theUniversity of Oxford;he was also Honorary Fellow ofHarris Manchester College, Oxford.He received honorary degrees (Doctor of Science) from theUniversity of Sheffieldin 1978,[64]and from theUniversity of Bathin 1984.[65]He also received honorary degrees from theUniversity of Paviain 1986 and fromBrunel University Londonin 2008 (DUniv), as well as an honorary doctorate fromOxford Brookes Universityin 2014.[66]In 2000, Bannister received the Golden Plate Award of theAmerican Academy of Achievement.[67]

Bannister was made anHonorary Freemanof theLondon Borough of Harrowon 4 May 2004,[68]and was granted theFreedom of the CityofOxfordin 2004.[69]

Selected publications

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Autobiography

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  • The Four Minute Mile.Dodd, Mead. 1955.
  • First Four Minutes.Putnam. 1955.
  • Twin Tracks: The Autobiography.London: The Robson Press. 2014.ISBN978-1-84954-686-7.

Academic

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Other media

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In 2014, he appeared as a guest on BBC Radio 4'sMidweekwithLibby Purves,Kevin WarwickandRachael Stirling.[70]

References

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Citations

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  1. ^abc"Roger Bannister at sports-reference.com".sports-reference.com.Archived fromthe originalon 18 April 2020.Retrieved15 June2018.
  2. ^abcAll-Athletics."Profile of Roger Bannister".Archived fromthe originalon 4 April 2016.
  3. ^"Abingdon School Athletics"(PDF).The Abingdonian.Archived(PDF)from the original on 12 October 2018.
  4. ^abSale, Jerome (2 May 2014)."Sir Roger Bannister reveals Parkinson's disease battle".BBC News.
  5. ^Bascomb 2004,pp. 13–14
  6. ^Bannister 2015,p. 24
  7. ^Bannister 2015,p. 35
  8. ^Bannister 2015,p. 30
  9. ^Bannister 2015,p. 34
  10. ^Bannister 2015,p. 37
  11. ^Bannister 2015,p. 40
  12. ^abcdefghiStephen Wilson (1 March 2012)."AP Interview: Roger Bannister relives 4-minute mile and stays coy on London Olympic flame".Associated Press.Retrieved26 October2013.
  13. ^abcdefghijk"Racing Past – Roger Bannister".Racing Past.Retrieved6 March2018.
  14. ^Bannister, Roger (2014)."6. International running career: Oxford to Helsinki".Twin Tracks: The Autobiography.Biteback Publishing. pp. v.ISBN978-1-84954-738-3.
  15. ^"European Athletics Championships Zürich 2014 – STATISTICS HANDBOOK"(PDF).European Athletics Association.p. 372.Archived(PDF)from the original on 8 August 2014.Retrieved6 March2018.
  16. ^Krüger, Arnd(2006). "Training Theory and Why Roger Bannister was the First Four Minute Miler".Sport in History.26(2): 305–324.doi:10.1080/17460260600786955.ISSN1746-0271.S2CID143673381.
  17. ^"Plaque: Sir Roger Bannister".londonremembers.com.Retrieved23 July2018.
  18. ^"Track and Field Statistics – Roger Bannister".trackfield.brinkster.net.Track and Field Statistics.Retrieved6 March2018.
  19. ^ab"Athletics at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games: Men's 1,500 metres".sports-reference.com.Archived fromthe originalon 17 April 2020.Retrieved6 March2018.
  20. ^Bryant, John (15 December 2010).3:59.4: The Quest to Break the 4 Minute Mile.United Kingdom: Arrow. p. 245.ISBN978-0099469087.
  21. ^abBannister, Roger (2014).Twin tracks: the autobiography.London: Robson. pp.79.ISBN9781849546867.OCLC869795116.
  22. ^ab"Track and Field Statistics – John Landy".trackfield.brinkster.net.Track and Field Statistics.Retrieved6 March2018.
  23. ^abcd"On This Day, 1950–2005: 6 May 1954: Bannister breaks four-minute mile".BBC News.Retrieved26 October2013.
    Includes full footage of the race.
  24. ^"My part in Bannister's mile".The Daily Telegraph.2 May 2004.Archivedfrom the original on 12 January 2022.Retrieved27 April2014.
  25. ^"Too Modest by Half – Reliving Sir Roger Bannister's Four-Minute Mile".Oxford Royale Academy. 20 March 2012.Retrieved26 October2013.
  26. ^"Record Breakers' McWhirter dies".BBC News.20 April 2004.Retrieved4 March2018.
  27. ^Tom Michalik."The Four Minute Mile!".randolphcollege.edu.Retrieved26 October2013.
  28. ^Mackay, Duncan (2018)."Commonwealth Sports Moments #1: Roger Bannister beats John Landy in the" Miracle Mile "at Vancouver 1954".Commonwealth Games Federation.Archivedfrom the original on 17 May 2019.
  29. ^Steil, John; Stalker, Aileen (2009).Public Art in Vancouver: Angels Among Lions.Victoria, B.C.: Touchwood Editions. p. 41.ISBN9781894898799.OCLC305103587.
  30. ^ab"Obituary: Roger Bannister".BBC News.4 March 2018.Retrieved4 March2018.
  31. ^ab"Sir Roger Bannister: First man to run a mile in under four minutes dies at 88".BBC Sport.4 March 2018.Retrieved4 March2018.
  32. ^"No. 40497".The London Gazette(1st supplement). 3 June 1955. p. 3267.
  33. ^"Supplement to the London Gazette of Tuesday, 31st December 1974".The London Gazette.Retrieved26 October2013.
  34. ^David Epstein(4 July 2011)."Sir Roger's Run".Sports Illustrated.Vol. 5, no. 1. pp. 102–106. Archived fromthe originalon 29 October 2013.
  35. ^"Roger Bannister Joins Up".Associated Press.Retrieved4 March2018.
  36. ^abMacAuley, Domhnall (1 December 2005)."Profile: Roger Bannister".The Lancet.366(S14–S15): S14–S15.doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67827-0.ISSN0140-6736.PMID16360731.S2CID34984270.
  37. ^"Sir Roger Bannister, obituary: Middle-distance runner who achieved the first four-minute mile".The Independent.4 March 2018.Retrieved11 March2018.
  38. ^"Roger Bannister:" I'd rather be remembered for neurology than running "".The Big Issue.5 March 2018.Retrieved11 March2018.
  39. ^"Basle – Bannister Wedding".britishpathe.com.British Pathé.16 June 1955.Retrieved8 March2018.
  40. ^Andrew Cave (12 April 2014)."Interview: Clive Bannister, boss of Phoenix Group".The Daily Telegraph.Archivedfrom the original on 12 January 2022.Retrieved21 March2018.
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Sources

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Notes

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  1. ^In the third paragraph, this section referencesMile run world record progression.

Further reading

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  • Bale, John.Roger Bannister and the four-minute mile: Sports myth and sports history(Routledge, 2012).excerpt
  • Bale, John. "Amateurism, Capital and Roger Bannister."Sport in History26.3 (2006): 484–501.
  • Bannister, Roger (1955),The Four-Minute Mile.Revised and enlarged 50th anniversary (of the race) edition, 2004, The Lyons Press.
  • Bascomb, Neal(2004),The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It.ISBN0-618-39112-6.
  • Booth, Douglas. "Sport history and the seeds of a postmodern discourse."Rethinking History13.2 (2009): 153–174.
  • Bourne, Nicholas David.Fast science: A history of training theory and methods for elite runners through 1975(U of Texas at Austin, 2008).online
  • The First Four Minutes: ESPN Classic Television Programme.
  • The Four Minute MileTV mini-series (1988), available on DVD.
  • Cameron, Julia (1993),The Artist's Way.Oxford, London: Pan Books.ISBN0-330-34358-0.
  • Freeman, Roy; Low, Philip; Joyner, Mike (January 2019)."Obituary: Sir Roger Bannister (1929–2018)".Autonomic Neuroscience.216:iii–v.doi:10.1016/j.autneu.2018.09.007.
  • Nelson, Cordner and Quercetani, Roberto (1985),The Milers,Tafnews Press, 1985,ISBN0-911521-15-1,pp. 181–215
  • Quercetani, R. L. (1964),A World History of Track and Field Athletics, 1864–1964,Oxford University Press.(A history of the mile/1500 m. event.)
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Academic offices
Preceded by Master ofPembroke College, Oxford
1985–1993 		Succeeded by
Records
Preceded by Men's Mile World Record Holder
6 May – 21 June 1954 		Succeeded by
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