Editing Roger Bannister (section)

===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.