Even 70 years on, Bannister’s record remains as iconic as ever
THE thing about sport is that it’s constantly moving on, constantly improving, constantly evolving. Records that were set in previous decades are surpassed and almost always forgotten.
There is one record, however, that despite not withstanding the test of time in the record books, has certainly stood the test of time within athletics folklore.
Seventy years ago tomorrow, athletics’ most famous record was broken. On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister did what had been deemed by many to be impossible; he ran a sub-four-minute mile.
It’s astonishing how, even seven decades on, the breaking of this record still evokes so many emotions. Of the thousands of world records that have been broken since, none have achieved the same legendary status, which just goes to show the magnitude of his achievement.
There is not a single part of the story of the first sub-four-minute mile that doesn’t fascinate me. From the build-up to the attempt to the aftermath to Bannister himself, it’s an astonishing tale and likely contributes to the longevity of the adulation of the record.
The quest to run a four-minute mile had been ongoing for many years prior to Bannister’s arrival on the athletics scene. There are reports from the 1880s, and even before, of athletes chasing the record.
It was only in the mid-20th century that breaking it began to be taken more seriously but at that point, the four-minute mark was seen as the Holy Grail of athletic achievement, and a barrier that was impossible to break.
Well, it was seen as impossible by many, but crucially not by Bannister.
In the years preceding his 1954 attempt, others had been edging closer and closer to the revered mark.
In the 1940s, two talented Swedes, Gunder Hagg and Arne Andersen, came agonisingly close to surpassing the time. Between them, they edged the record down to four minutes 1.4 seconds, set in 1945 by Hagg, before the pair were banned for violating amateur sport rules.
And there the record remained for nearly a decade.
Of the athletes in pursuit of the record at that time, the most serious were American Wes Santee, who was a highly talented runner and who wrote in his high school year book in 1950 that he would break the record in the coming years, and Australian John Landy, who took athletics training to a new level and who was flying to Finland for a fresh attempt at the record when Bannister achieved the feat.
Bannister himself was far from what one would consider an elite athlete these days.
It’s reported that, as a medical student, his academic endeavours allowed him only one hour a day to train. Interestingly though, it was his medical background that led him to be one of the few who knew that barriers such as the fourminute mark were far from unbreakable given several men had come so close.
Bannister’s attempt on May 6 very nearly never happened at all.
It was widely accepted that to run sub-four minutes, conditions would need to be perfect and for the Englishman, this was far from the case that day.
So strong were the winds at the Iffley Road track in Oxford, the 26-year-old Bannister very nearly called off his attempt.
At the last minute, though, the wind dropped and Bannister decided to give it a go.
Paced by his compatriots, Chris Chataway and Chris Brasher, Bannister ran for his life.
The roar of the crowd was deafening when it became clear he had run three minutes 59.4 seconds.
So monumental was his achievement, it has been likened by many to the first conquering of Mount Everest.
Bannister’s run, as impressive a single achievement as it was, revealed so much more than merely the time on the stopwatch.
It gave us one of the greatest lessons in sporting history about the power of the mind and for anyone who doubts the mind is as powerful as any muscle in the body, look at the progression of the
Here is definitive proof, if ever it was needed, that the belief that something is possible is infinitely more valuable than the physical capability of being able to do it
mile world record. Within a mere 46 days, Landy became the second man to break the four-minute barrier, running three minutes 58.0 seconds and just four years later, the record had been lowered to three minutes 54.5 seconds by Herb Elliot.
Clearly, man had not significantly evolved physically in such a short space of time so here is definitive proof, if ever it was needed, that the belief that something is possible is infinitely more valuable than the physical capability of being able to do it.
Bannister went on to become a highly respected neurologist and although he is primarily known for his athletic exploits, he was always quick to remind people it was his medical career of which he was more proud.
These days, in a world of superspikes, state-of the art synthetic tracks and intricately devised, fulltime training programmes, running a sub-four-minute mile is seen as nothing particularly remarkable, at least not in elite circles. Since Bannister’s achievement, hundreds of sub-four-minute miles have been run.
Yet the magic of that first one, 70 years ago, remains.
The next iconic athletic barrier to be broken is likely to be the sub-two-hour marathon, something that is getting closer all the time.
It will happen at some point, just as the four-minute mile did.
But as great an achievement as that will be, it will still struggle to obtain the acclaim the four-minute mile has received over the past 70 years.
On the 60th anniversary of his record-breaking run, Bannister, who died in 2018 aged 88, said: “It was just something which caught the public’s imagination. I think it still remains something that is of interest and intrigue.”
He was right. And that interest and intrigue will continue with every passing anniversary.