Editing Roger Bannister (section)

== Athletics career ==

===Early running career===
Bannister was inspired by miler [[Sydney Wooderson]]'s comeback in 1945. Eight years after setting the mile record and seeing it surpassed during the war years by the Swedish runners [[Arne Andersson]] and [[Gunder Hägg]], Wooderson regained his old form and challenged Andersson over the distance in several races.<ref name=":0" /> Wooderson lost to Andersson but set a British record of 4:04.2 in [[Gothenburg]] on 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 at [[Oxford]] in the autumn of 1946 at the age of 17.<ref name=":9" /> He had never worn running spikes previously or run on a track.<ref name=":6">{{Cite news|url=http://www.racingpast.ca/john_contents.php?id=91|title=Racing Past – Roger Bannister|work=Racing Past|access-date=6 March 2018}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":6" />

He was selected as an Olympic "possible" in 1948 but declined as he felt he was not ready to compete at that level.<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":0" /> However, he was further inspired to become a great miler by watching the [[1948 Summer Olympics|1948 Olympics]]. He set his training goals on the [[1952 Summer Olympics|1952 Olympics]] in Helsinki.<ref name=":0" />

In 1949, he improved in the {{convert|880|yd|m|2|adj=on}} run to 1:52.7 and won several mile races in 4:11.<ref name=":6" /> Then, after a period of six weeks with no training, he came in third at [[White City Stadium|White City]] in 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 the [[Amateur Athletic Association|AAA]] 880 in 1:52.1, losing to [[Arthur Wint]], and then ran 1:50.7 for the 800 m at the European Championships on 26 August,<ref name="All-Athletics" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bannister |first=Roger |url= |title=Twin Tracks: The Autobiography |date=2014 |publisher=Biteback Publishing |isbn=978-1-84954-738-3 |pages=v |language=en |chapter=6. International running career: Oxford to Helsinki |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7hOuAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT60}}</ref> placing third.<ref name="eaa_01">{{Cite web|url=http://www.european-athletics.org/mm/Document/EventsMeetings/General/01/27/31/44/StatisticsHandbookZ%C3%BCrich2014_Neutral.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808114554/http://www.european-athletics.org/mm/Document/EventsMeetings/General/01/27/31/44/StatisticsHandbookZ%C3%BCrich2014_Neutral.pdf |archive-date=2014-08-08 |url-status=live|title=European Athletics Championships Zürich 2014 – STATISTICS HANDBOOK|publisher=[[European Athletics Association]]|pages=372|access-date=6 March 2018}}</ref> 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 the [[Penn 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 the [[Amateur Athletic Association|AAA]] Championships at White City before 47,000 people. The time set a meet record and he defeated defending champion [[Bill Nankeville]] in the process.

Bannister suffered defeat, however, when [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]]'s Andrija Otenhajmer, aware of Bannister's final-lap kick, took a 1500 m race in [[Belgrade]] 25 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 of [[interval training]] influenced by coach [[Franz Stampfl]] with elements of block [[Sports periodization|periodisation]], [[fell running]] and anaerobic elements of training which were later perfected by [[Arthur Lydiard]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Training Theory and Why Roger Bannister was the First Four Minute Miler |first=Arnd  |last=Krüger |author-link=Arnd Krüger |journal=Sport in History |year=2006 |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=305–324 |issn=1746-0271|doi=10.1080/17460260600786955 |s2cid=143673381 }}</ref>
[[File:Sir Roger Bannister plaque in Paddington Recreation Ground.jpg|thumb|Blue plaque at the Paddington Recreation Ground pavilion]]
From 1951 to 1954, Bannister trained at the track at [[Paddington Recreation Ground]] in [[Maida Vale]] while he was a medical student at the nearby [[St Mary's Hospital, London|St Mary's Hospital]]. There are two Bannister plaques at the pavilion, both unveiled by him on 10 September 2000; a circular [[blue plaque]] and a rectangular [[Commemorative plaque|historic plaque]] containing additional information.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/sir-roger-bannister|title=Plaque: Sir Roger Bannister|website=londonremembers.com|access-date=23 July 2018}}</ref> According to the latter, Bannister was able to train for just an hour each day due to his medical studies.

===1952 Olympics===
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 {{convert|880|yd|m|adj=on}} run on 28 May 1952 in 1:53.00, followed by a 4:10.6-mile time-trial on 7 June,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://trackfield.brinkster.net/Profile.asp?ID=348&Gender=M|title=Track and Field Statistics – Roger Bannister|website=trackfield.brinkster.net|publisher=Track and Field Statistics|access-date=6 March 2018}}</ref> proclaiming himself satisfied with the results. At the [[Amateur Athletic Association|AAA]] championships, he skipped the mile and won the 880 in 1:51.5.<ref name=":6" /> Then, 10&nbsp;days before the Olympic final, he ran a {{frac|3|4}} mile time trial in 2:52.9,<ref name=":6" /> 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,<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":6" /> 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".<ref name=":6"/>

The [[Athletics at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres|1500 m final]] on 26 July 1952 would prove to be one of the more dramatic in Olympic history.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1952/ATH/mens-1500-metres.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417171542/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1952/ATH/mens-1500-metres.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 April 2020|title=Athletics at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games: Men's 1,500 metres|website=sports-reference.com|access-date=6 March 2018}}</ref> The race was not decided until the final metres, [[Josy Barthel]] of [[Luxembourg]] prevailing in an Olympic-record 3:45.28 (3:45.1 by official hand-timing) with the next seven runners all under the old record.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":5" /> Bannister finished fourth,<ref name=":0" /> out of the medals, but set a British record of 3:46.30 (3:46.0) in the process.

===New goal===
[[File:Roger Bannister 1953.jpg|thumb|right|Roger Bannister winning a race in 1953.]]
[[File:Roger Bannister and John Landy at Iffley Road on the 50th anniversary of the four minute mile 6 May 2004.jpg|thumb|right|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.<ref name=":0" /> Accordingly, he intensified his training and did hard [[Interval training|intervals]].<ref name=":6" />

On 2 May 1953, he made an attempt on the British record at [[Oxford]]. Paced by [[Christopher Chataway|Chris Chataway]], Bannister ran 4:03.6, shattering Wooderson's 1945 standard.<ref name=":6" /> "This race made me realise that the four-minute mile was not out of reach," said Bannister.<ref name ="Quest">{{cite book |last=Bryant |first= John|date= 15 December 2010|title=3:59.4: The Quest to Break the 4 Minute Mile |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rrkZjNQO28oC&q=%22This+race+made+me+realise+that+the+four-minute+mile+was+not+out+of+reach,%22&pg=PA245 |location= United Kingdom|publisher=Arrow |page=245 |isbn= 978-0099469087 }}</ref>

On 27 June 1953, a mile race was inserted into the programme of the [[Surrey]] schools 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, but [[Chris Brasher]] took up the pace. Brasher had jogged the race, allowing Bannister to lap him so he could be a fresh pace-setter. At {{frac|3|4}} mile, 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 only [[Arne Andersson]] (4:01.6 in 1944) and [[Gunder Hägg]] (4:01.4 in 1945).<ref name=":7">{{Cite book|title=Twin tracks : the autobiography|last=Bannister|first=Roger|publisher=Robson|year=2014|isbn=9781849546867|location=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/twintracksautobi0000bann/page/79 79]|oclc=869795116|url=https://archive.org/details/twintracksautobi0000bann/page/79}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":7" />

But other runners were making attempts at the four-minute barrier and coming close as well. American [[Wes Santee]] ran 4:02.4 on 5 June 1953, the fourth-fastest mile ever. And at the end of the year, Australian [[John Landy]] ran 4:02.0.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=http://trackfield.brinkster.net/Profile.asp?ID=3733&Gender=M|title=Track and Field Statistics – John Landy|website=trackfield.brinkster.net|publisher=Track and Field Statistics|access-date=6 March 2018}}</ref>

Then early in 1954, Landy made some more attempts at the distance. On 21 January 1954, he ran 4:02.4 in [[Melbourne]], 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 to [[Finland]] for another attempt, Bannister knew he had to make his attempt soon.

===Sub-4-minute mile===
{{See also|Four-minute mile}}
[[Roger Bannister running track#The sub-four-minute mile|This historic event]] took place on 6 May 1954 during a meet between [[British Amateur Athletics Association|British AAA]] and [[Oxford University]] at [[Roger Bannister running track|Iffley Road Track]] in [[Oxford]], watched by about 3,000 spectators.<ref name=":1" /> With winds of up to {{convert|25|mph|km/h|spell=in}} before the event,<ref name=":1" /> 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, future [[1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games|Commonwealth Games]] gold medallist [[Christopher Chataway]] from the 2 May attempt, and future [[1956 Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]] gold medallist [[Chris Brasher]] from the 27 June attempt, combined to provide pacing for Bannister's run. The race<ref name=":1">{{cite news | title= On This Day, 1950–2005: 6 May 1954: Bannister breaks four-minute mile | url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/6/newsid_2511000/2511575.stm | access-date= 26 October 2013 | work=[[BBC News]]}}<br />Includes full footage of the race.</ref> was broadcast live by [[BBC Radio]] and commentated by [[1924 Summer Olympics|1924 Olympic]] 100 metres champion [[Harold Abrahams]], of ''[[Chariots of Fire]]'' fame.
[[File:Iffley Road Track, Oxford - blue plaque.JPG|thumb|[[Blue plaque]] at [[Oxford University]]'s [[Roger Bannister running track|Iffley Road Track]], recording the first sub-4-minute [[mile run]] by 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 from [[Paddington Station]] to Oxford, nervous about the rainy, windy conditions that afternoon.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news | author= Stephen Wilson | date= 1 March 2012 | title= AP Interview: Roger Bannister relives 4-minute mile and stays coy on London Olympic flame | url= https://news.yahoo.com/ap-interview-roger-bannister-relives-4-minute-mile-231018636--spt.html | access-date= 26 October 2013 | agency= [[Associated Press]] }}</ref>

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, and [[Tom 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/athletics/2378077/My-part-in-Bannisters-mile.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/athletics/2378077/My-part-in-Bannisters-mile.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=My part in Bannister's mile|date=2 May 2004|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|access-date=27 April 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The race went off as scheduled at 6:00&nbsp;pm, and Brasher and Bannister went immediately to the front of the pack.<ref name=":1" /> Brasher (wearing No. 44) led both the first lap in 58&nbsp;seconds and the half-mile in 1:58, with Bannister (No. 41) tucked in behind, and Chataway (No. 42) a stride behind Bannister.<ref name=":0" /> 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&nbsp;yards to go (just over half a lap), running the last lap in just under 59&nbsp;seconds.<ref>{{Cite web | title= Too Modest by Half – Reliving Sir Roger Bannister's Four-Minute Mile | url= http://www.oxford-royale.co.uk/articles/reliving-sir-roger-bannisters-four-minute-mile.html | access-date= 26 October 2013 | date= 20 March 2012 |publisher=Oxford Royale Academy }}</ref>

The stadium announcer for the race was [[Norris McWhirter]], who went on to co-publish and co-edit the ''[[Guinness World Records|Guinness Book of Records]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3643039.stm|title=Record Breakers' McWhirter dies|date=20 April 2004|work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=4 March 2018}}</ref> He teased the crowd by delaying his announcement of Bannister's race time for as long as possible:<ref>{{Cite web | author= Tom Michalik | title= The Four Minute Mile! | url= http://faculty.randolphcollege.edu/tmichalik/4min.htm | access-date= 26 October 2013 | publisher= [[Randolph College|randolphcollege.edu]] }}</ref>

{{blockquote|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&nbsp;minutes 59.4&nbsp;seconds.<ref name=":6" />

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&nbsp;seconds) for nine years, which was longer than it might otherwise have been due to the effect of the [[Second World War]] in interrupting athletic progress in the combatant countries.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}} The Swedish runners, [[Gunder Hägg]] and [[Arne Andersson]], in a series of head-to-head races in the period 1942–45, had already [[Mile run world record progression|lowered the world mile record]] by 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|date=May 2019}}

Just 46 days later, on 21 June 1954, Bannister's record was broken by his rival, John Landy, in [[Turku]], [[Finland]], with a time of 3&nbsp;minutes 57.9&nbsp;seconds, which the [[IAAF]] ratified as 3&nbsp;minutes 58.0&nbsp;seconds due to the rounding rules then in effect.<ref name=":4" />

=== 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games ===
On 7 August, at the [[1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games]] in 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.
[[File:Bannister and Landy.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Statue in Vancouver immortalising the moment in ''"The Miracle Mile"'' when Roger Bannister passed [[John 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.<ref name=":6" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thecgf.com/stories/commonwealth-sports-moments-1-roger-bannister-beats-john-landy-miracle-mile-vancouver-1954|title=Commonwealth Sports Moments #1: Roger Bannister beats John Landy in the "Miracle Mile" at Vancouver 1954|last=Mackay|first=Duncan|year=2018|publisher=[[Commonwealth Games Federation]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517221624/https://thecgf.com/stories/commonwealth-sports-moments-1-roger-bannister-beats-john-landy-miracle-mile-vancouver-1954|archive-date=17 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> 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 sculptor [[Jack Harman (artist)|Jack Harman]] in 1967 from a photograph by ''[[Vancouver Sun]]'' photographer Charlie Warner and stood for many years at the entrance to [[Empire Stadium (Vancouver)|Empire Stadium]]; after the stadium was demolished the sculpture was moved a short distance away to the Hastings and Renfrew entrance of the [[Pacific National Exhibition]] (PNE) fairgrounds. Regarding this sculpture, Landy quipped: "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."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Public Art in Vancouver: Angels Among Lions|last1=Steil|first1=John|last2=Stalker|first2=Aileen|publisher=Touchwood Editions|year=2009|isbn=9781894898799|location=Victoria, B.C.|pages=41|oclc=305103587}}</ref>

Bannister went on that season to win the so-called [[metric mile]], the 1500 m, at the [[1954 European Athletics Championships – Men's 1500 metres|European Championships]] in [[Bern]], Switzerland, on 29 August, with a championship record in a time of 3 min 43.8 s.<ref name="All-Athletics"/> He retired from athletics late in 1954 to concentrate on his work as a junior doctor and to pursue a career in [[neurology]].<ref name="BBCObit">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11764114|title=Obituary: Roger Bannister|date=4 March 2018|work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=4 March 2018}}</ref><ref name="BBC-ath">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/43273249|title=Sir Roger Bannister: First man to run a mile in under four minutes dies at 88|date=4 March 2018|work=[[BBC Sport]]|access-date=4 March 2018}}</ref> He was appointed a [[Order of the British Empire|CBE]] the following year for "services to amateur athletics".<ref>{{London Gazette
| issue = 40497
| date = 3 June 1955
| page = 3267
| supp = 1
}}</ref>

===Sports Council and knighthood===
Bannister later became the first Chairman of the Sports Council (now called [[Sport England]]) and was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] for this service in 1975.<ref>{{cite news | title= Supplement to the London Gazette of Tuesday, 31st December 1974 | url= http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/46444/supplements/1 | access-date= 26 October 2013 | newspaper=[[The London Gazette]]}}</ref> 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 of [[anabolic steroids]] in sport.<ref>{{Cite magazine | author= David Epstein | author-link= David Epstein (journalist) | title= Sir Roger's Run | url= https://si.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1187805/index.htm | archive-date= 29 October 2013 | magazine= [[Sports Illustrated]] | date= 4 July 2011 | pages= 102–106 | volume=5 | issue=1 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029184900/https://si.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1187805/index.htm | url-status=dead}}</ref>