Editing Roger Bannister (section)

=== 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>