At the outbreak of World War II, the family moved to the city of Bath, where Bannister sometimes ran to and from school.īannister's passion for running took off in 1945 when his father took him to a track meet at London's White City Stadium, which was built to host the 1908 Olympics. "I knew enough medicine and physiology to know it wasn't a physical barrier, but I think it had become a psychological barrier."īannister was born on March 23, 1929, in the London borough of Harrow. "There was no logic in my mind that if you can run a mile in 4 minutes, 1 and 2/5ths, you can't run it in 3:59," he said. The 4-minute mark seemed like a brick wall that would never be toppled. But, time and again, runners came up short. When Sweden's Gunder Hagg ran 4:01.4 in 1945, the chase was truly on. The numbers were easy for the public to grasp: 1 mile, 4 laps, 4 minutes. The quest to break the 4-minute mile carried a special mystique. "My medical work has been my achievement and my family with 14 grandchildren," he said. While he will forever be remembered for his running, Bannister considered his long medical career in neurology as his life's greatest accomplishment. Bannister regarded that as his greatest race because it came in a competitive championship against his fiercest rival. "It's amazing that more people have climbed Mount Everest than have broken the 4-minute mile," Bannister said in an interview with The Associated Press in 2012.īannister followed up his 4-minute milestone a few months later by beating Australia's John Landy in the "Miracle Mile" or "Mile of the Century" at the Empire Games in Vancouver, British Columbia with both men going under 4 minutes. He will be greatly missed."īannister's time of 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds captured the world's imagination and buoyed the spirits of Britons still suffering through post-war austerity. "He banked his treasure in the hearts of his friends."īritish Prime Minister Theresa May remembered Bannister as a "British sporting icon whose achievements were an inspiration to us all. He was "surrounded by his family who were as loved by him, as he was loved by them," the family said in a statement Sunday. The black-and-white image of Bannister, eyes closed, head back, mouth wide open, straining across the tape at Oxford's Iffley Road track, endures as a defining snapshot of a transcendent moment in track and field history.īannister died peacefully in Oxford on Saturday at the age of 88. The 3 was all that mattered.īannister had just become the first runner to break the mythical 4-minute barrier in the mile - a feat of speed and endurance that stands as one of the seminal sporting achievements of the 20th century. The rest was drowned out by the roar of the crowd.
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