The Miracle Mile: Stories of the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

For a split second, John Landy f licks a glance back over his left shoulder. At that exact moment, Roger Bannister, with a huge thrusting stride, surges past on Landy’s right. The “Miracle Mile” was won and lost. And one of the iconic images of modern sport entered the human consciousness.

The countless documents and artworks that commemorate that moment guarantee it will remain iconic for years to come – reports, films, photographs, paintings, statues. More than 60 years later, Jason Beck has added one of the best.

Curator of the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame, Beck has done a superlative research and writing job, bringing to life the stories, personalities and politics of a Games that left a lasting mark on modern running, on modern Vancouver and on modern international sports festivals worldwide.

He takes us far beyond that iconic moment to make vivid narrative of the full epic drama of the Bannister/ L andy mile. He tells us of the personalities, their stories, their different responses to media pressure, and the fact ions that grew up around them: egalit arian Commonwealth athletes against what they perceived as imperialistic Brits. He delves in greater detail than any previous writer into the scorching misery of the marathon, and Jim Peters’ terrible heat-struck collapse that followed so tragically on the exhilarating joy of the mile.

I even found myself engrossed in some vivid characters in wrestling, swimming and weightlifting, as well as learning more about running heroes I already knew like Chris Chataway and Marjorie Jackson.

It’s an important Vancouver book, too. Beck makes a good narrative out of the local politics that seem always to bedevil such enterprises, the internecine wars over the location and construction of venues. He argues convincingly that Vancouver gained a richer sense of identity, and a more central place on the map, through successfully mounting those Games.

It’s worth adding that other cities followed suit. Although not every Commonwealth and Olympic host, not by a long way. But Melbourne 1956, Christchurch 1974, Sydney 2000, Manchester 2002 and London 2012 – all rebranded and redefined themselves in profound ways. Don’t ask me to explain or defend why they’re all English-speaking. Except for London, it’s perhaps because hosting a Games enabled them to move in from the colonial margin.

Beck’s enthralling book is fine sports writing. It’s also evidence that modern sports festivals are important for much more than sport.—