Just over a year after Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay conquered Everest, Roger Bannister conquered the 'Four Minute Mile'. Runners had been striving to do this for years, but he was the one that did it. Youngsters, like me at the time, were caught up in the excitement of it. Imagine queues at the Cinemas to watch his race and nobody cared that the picture quality was poor. The thing was, WE had seen him do it. He became, at a stroke, the country's most famous Sportsman. He inspired many and will continue to do so. Bless you sir, and THANK YOU for the inspiration.
As a runner he was one that I aspire to be like. Ok I can’t do a 4 minute km let alone mile!! But he was one that I researched for a recent bit of work I was doing simply due to my love of running. RIP
His name will never be forgotten. I don’t even know the current record holder , or the time. RIP Roger
I believe that the number of men to run a mile under 4 minutes is still well below 2,000 and no woman has ever achieved it..
His record was broken within days/weeks but even though it's been in the news this week I doubt more than 1-2% of the population could say by who. Yet my grandchildren will hear the name Roger Bannister.
You have just hit on one of the ironies of Sport. John Landy deserves more than being remembered, (or not) as the second man to beat four minutes. He was not only a great runner but he was also a Great Sportsman, in every sense of the word. If you like Athletics and are ever bored, read up on him. Like Sir Roger his career after Athletics was also one of being useful to society.
