Sir Roger Bannister, First Athlete to Break 4-Minute Mile, Dies at 88

Having run the mile on occasion in high school (gave it up for the quarter and the half), I was impressed with the effort it took to go that distance at all--even a 1:58 half was much better than I ever did. Interestingly, just a week or two before Bannister set his record--I was a first year med student at the time--there was an article in JAMA, if I remember correctly, that said that 4 minutes was the limit of human capacity for running a mile race. Shows what people knew then.

The world record did not last because what he did was breaking the mental barriers that were in place about the sub 4 minute mile and there lies his greatness

Well done, Roger.

I can remember in elementary school - ELEMENTARY SCHOOL! - how impressed we were with Bannister doing this. A great feat, without a doubt.

It seems that, as with many other athletic milestones, being the first to run a mile in under 4 minutes required tough-mindedness, in terms of blocking out not just the increasing amount of physical pain but also even the slightest hint of self-doubt, at least as much as speed and smart strategy. The fact that the next under-4 minute mile was run just 6 weeks later suggests as much. Sir Bannister's achievement is a testament to a tremendous level of mental toughness. So was his victory over John Landy in Vancouver. What a race that must have been to witness in person.

I was seated next to him and his wife seven years ago at a dinner in Oxford, only I didn't know it was him. He asked all about my career as a diplomat and mentioned he had been a doctor, which we also spoke about. Later in the evening someone told me the man I was sitting next to was Roger Bannister. Since he hadn't raised running I didn't either and we didn't speak of it at all. A small anecdote but one consistent with the picture of a modest, thoughtful man.

Could there be a better role model than Roger Bannister? Highly accomplished in his career, deeply involved in the affairs of his community, a life-long husband and father of 4 children, fiercely competitive but modest and unassuming despite his superlative accomplishments. We can all feel such joy from a life so well led.

I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Bannister at the World Congress of Neurology when it was held in Vancouver in 1992. I remember that he and John Landy were both present to celebrate the "Mile of the Century" race. Both men were thoughtful, elegant and understood their place in history. John Landy said that the glance over his shoulder was a "look of hope" that he might win the race, but at that time against the great Roger Bannister, it was not to be.

I cried as I read and re-read the next-to-last paragraph. I remember the day well.

I was ten and learned of Roger Bannister's amazing accomplishment thanks to the then new magazine my father subscribed to, Sports Illustrated. In all the sports I participated in, I excelled and played to win, while never forgetting what I had learned from my parents and from men like Roger Bannister..Beyond the results, there is a right way and a wrong way to compete. Honor, integrity and humility, HOW you play the game is how you will be remembered. And Yes, I agree Tp, this is a beautifully written obit ending with the track announcement of the race results..I could see the moment, hear the results through the P.A. System “First, No. 41, R.G. Bannister, Amateur Athletic Association and formerly of Exeter and Merton Colleges, Oxford, with a time that is a new meeting and track record and which, subject to ratification, will be a new English native, British national, British all-comers, European, British Empire and world’s record. The time was 3 …” "The roar of the crowd drowned out the rest." And as my eyes misted I thought, how appropriate.

I remember the event distinctly, as a freshman in high school playing baseball that season and day in May. It would be a few years before I turned to distance running and the one-mile event. I was inspired by Bannister and came to understand the courage, intensity, and character it took to be an accomplished runner. He and a few others in those days accomplished this in vintage leather shoes, long spikes, and heavy cinder tracks.

A wonderful piece, but I really hate the statement "Had they been in the same race, El Guerrouj would have beaten Bannister by more than 100 meters." Which race would that be? The one in 1999, when Banister was 70? or the one in 1954, when El Guerrouj was 20 years from being born? There is no way of knowing what Bannister in his prime with the advantage of later equipment, diet, and training might have accomplished. The implicit suggestion that he might not still have been world's best has no basis, and though unintended, diminishes his remarkable accomplishment.

First, I salute Roger Bannister's singular accomplishment. Second, as for the record held by a Russian woman, there's no doubt where her "kick" came from.

In this era of crass commercialism and seemingly endless bluster in sport, it is comforting to know that one of the true milestones of athletic achievement rests with a man who trained and raced strictly for the challenge of pushing himself to the limits of his potential, the joy of competing and for the honor of representing his country. Then, when he knew he could accomplish no more, he left the stage quietly and in dignity for the pursuit of endeavors to benefit all of mankind. Roger Bannister, a role model for the ages.

I was 14 when Bannister ran his sub 4 minute miles. What I remember most was a moment when I saw a televised version of one (likely the one in Vancouver with Landry) in a Hackensack, NJ, TV store. The strange thing that stuck in my mind was a sports commentator on the TV criticizing Bannister for his post run collapse into the arms of waiting supporters. He said that by running to the point of collapse he was giving a poor example to youth. His silly comment regustered with me the dumbest comment about a sports event I had heard in my young life. Now at 78, my ears have yet to hear a more foolish comment. Bannister was a great competitor.

A fascinating story. As a lifelong runner, I'm curious if Bannister continued to run after ending his amateur career.

A great runner and a great man. This led to the Herb Elliott era. What a runner he was with Percy Cerutty as his coach.

One can only hope that our American president will learn about Roger Bannister so he can understand what a true champion is and how he speaks and how he acts.

1953 - Mt. Everest. 1954 - 4 minute mile Two impossible dreams which complemented each other. Mankind swept off its feet. 1957- Sputnik. Man brought to earth. Machines become more important than man. 4 minute mile and Mt. Everest all forgotten to be be brought up in remembrance.

A true sportsman from an era when humility and modesty about one's athletic achievements was held in higher regard than the "show me the money"..."I'm the greatest" attitudes of today. Roger Bannister, a true English gentleman, who lived a life dedicated to medicine and service to humanity should serve as a model for us in our time.

Reminiscent of Bobby Jones, always an amateur, who won all the major golf tournaments in the same year and retired to pursue his chosen profession.

When I was 5 years old, Sir Roger broke the 4-min mile. I know I saw videos a little later. He was such an inspiration. In the Fifties there were school libraries and they had fiction based on the Track and Field sports. I read them avidly and to me thery were like Science Fiction, Ray Bradbury and them. But sports were more accessible aqnd I began my own routines. That start was more important than anything else I could have done. My academics were instilled altready, but my physical health more than any accomplishment, although I did Letter in Wrestling my Senior year in High School, has established my good vitals and what I need to feel healthy. I can only thank God and examples like Roger.

A beautifully wrought obituary that reads as though it were some time in the making. Grateful for the very telling details, like 'took an early afternoon train to Oxford,' and 'had lunch with old friends' before the race, and then the dramatic reading of the final time over the PA system. It all combines to great effect here that captures not merely the achievement but the surprise nature of it. Startled - pleasantly so - that such clear video exists.

It is hard to overstate the importance of the men and women who break these mental and physical barriers, thus opening new realms to those of us who follow. My father had the pleasure to meet Sir Roger Bannister several hours before his "Miracle Mile" performance in Vancouver in 1954. The picture he took with Bannister that day was kept in my father's wallet for the rest of his life, a source of continued inspiration. I can only imagine how many others had been similarly affected by this man's achievements.

One of my childhood heroes — I hadn't known he was still alive. I read his autobiography and he really impressed me with his modesty and sense of sportsmanship.

My father ran track at Princeton in the years Roger Bannister was at Oxford. They competed against each other in intercollegiate matches. Whenever my father would say he ran with Roger Bannister, my mother would quip, "You ran behind Roger." A singular man, according to my father.

It's not so much what he did as how he did it, with "absolutely genuine and complete effort". His running was just an extension of how he lived his life. A true inspiration!

I was 7 years old, living in the Philadelphia area, when Roger Bannister beat the 4-minute mile, as my Dad called it. I can remember sitting at breakfast and Dad reading excerpts of the story from the Philadelphia Inquirer that morning, and the ensuing conversation, mostly from him, about how it wouldn't be long until someone ran the mile in under 3 minutes. Although I never ran track as a schoolboy (I played basketball, tennis, and football), I always followed the Penn Relays, especially the mile races, in the sports pages, all because of that one event more than 60 years ago. I still get a chill every time I watch the finish to the mile. I was struck by the obit's reference to his motivation for running, something that became a partner in his training and his excellence: his fear of bullies, bombs, and bullets striking him. Like many great athletes, fear does motivate: fear of not performing to expectations, fear of not winning, fear of losing, fear of being embarrassed by one of your mates, even a fear which I often had of not getting schoolwork done because of excessive involvement in the sport, or just whatever fear happens to meet the athlete in the morning. Bannister was not only an athlete for his time, he was a model athlete for all times, making a serious contribution to sport, medicine, and civic life.

To be young, fit, and in such good health!

Boy do I miss the reserved, humble and truly remarkable in this world. Infer into that whatever you will but I sure do miss 'em. Bannister's achievement(s) demonstrate that it couldn't have happened for a nicer guy. Good job!

He ran the first officially timed sub 4 minute mile.

Rather than “the first man to do so,” maybe “the first person to be so timed.” I imagine great runners of the distant past fleeing wild game perhaps besting that time. Still, a great moment of sports history and a defining moment of post-WW II British history.

Wonderfully written obit about a great man.

A remarkable accomplishment by one of the last great amateur athletes. Today's champions are cloistered in professional training camps and the suggestion of having a productive career such as medicine is unthinkable. Sir Roger will be missed.

What a wonderful life! It is terrific that he lived a long rich, existence, even after setting a world record. We should all raise a glass to Sir Roger! Well done, Sir!

I am old enough to remember this feat. I now ask myself have humans become faster or has the drug industry taken over all sports. I remember Jesse Owens who held many records, all have been passed by many athletes. Performance enhancements or human development?

I was a a young track fan when he did it. Back then there was actually discussion of whether it was possible. When he did it he really became a hero. And he bore himself as a true amateur athlete, again something that was a real thing back then.

It still means something. You were inspiring, Roger.

What a class act!

I'd love to know more about his medical career...

Excuse me for writing in my wife's account, but I had to comment. Thanks for a great article. I read in another article that fewer have achieved today running faster than 4 minutes in the mile (about 1500) than have climbed Mount Everest. Still a great accomplishment today and both achievements first done around the same time by British subjects. As a former runner myself, the story reminded me of one of my favorite movies, Chariots of Fire. Thanks for the memories Sir Roger Bannister.

A dedicated life in every way...

Sir Roger Bannister reminds us of that there as still good men and women who can lead from behind.

Mr. Bannister's descriptions of running, racing and competition are pure poetry.

If you watch the full mile on You-Tube, one really gets a sense of the tremendous kick he had. Granted, Chris Chataway as pace-setter "took it easy", leading them all to a 62-second third lap, but, really, Bannister looked like Mo Farrah kicking at the end, but on a slower surface with inauspicious weather. Good show!

"Sports Illustrated called him “among the most private of public men, inexhaustibly polite, cheerfully distant, open and complex.” I don't believe a more honorable nor graceful characterization of anyone, much less an athlete, has even been written that equals this Sports Illustrated single sentence. The attached picture of Sir Bannister at his home in Oxford truly captures his elegant and cheerful demeanor. A true class act in every sense of the word. I could not help but laugh out loud at Sir Bannister's recollection of his wife's misunderstanding of his accomplishment of running four miles in one minute. Sounds exactly like something I would have mistakenly stated since I have a propensity of getting my words twisted.

And promptly retired from sports to be a surgeon. No reality show? Doping scandals? Hawking of sports equipment of dubious value on HSN? Jeesh. What a failure by today’s standards.