![]() ![]() The men's mark has tumbled over the years, with Britons Sebastian Coe, Steve Ovett and Steve Cram each holding the record at least once in the 1980s. The organisers of the London Marathon paid tribute to Bannister with a picture of him alongside pacesetters Chris Chataway (right) and Chris Brasher when he broke the mile world recordīannister was helped in his achievement by Sir Christopher Chataway - who beat Bannister to the inaugural BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award later that year - and Chris Brasher, who acted as pacesetters.īrasher, who went on to co-found the London Marathon, died in 2003 after a short illness and Chataway died from cancer in 2014.Īustralian John Landy bettered Bannister's record the following month with a time of 3:57.9. He was considered for the British team at the 1948 London Olympics - just two years after taking up running as a 17-year-old - but did earn a place in the team at the 1952 Games in Helsinki, where he set a new British record en route to fourth in the 1500 metres final.īannister, who used his medical knowledge to devise his own training regime and investigate the mechanical aspects of running, turned his sights on becoming the first person to run inside four minutes for the mile after the Olympics and twice went close to achieving his goal in 1953.Īmerican Wes Santee and Australia's John Landy were also targeting the record when Bannister finally achieved the feat in the spring of 1954. ![]() Read: 'One of the greatest in sports history' - Coe and Cram lead tributesīannister viewed running as something to be done in his spare time away from the demands of his medical studies at the University of Oxford, but that did not prevent him reaching the biggest stages in the sport.Read: History-maker, doctor, anti-doping pioneer.Listen: Record Maker - Sir Roger Bannister speaks to Eleanor Oldroyd in 2012."There is not a single athlete of my generation who was not inspired by Roger and his achievements both on and off the track." IAAF president Lord Coe, who ran a mile world record of 3:47.33 in 1981, said: "This is a day of intense sadness both for our nation and for all of us in athletics. "He banked his treasure in the hearts of his friends." He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2011.Ī statement from his family said: "Sir Roger Bannister, died peacefully in Oxford on 3 March, aged 88, surrounded by his family who were as loved by him, as he was loved by them. Bannister also won gold over the same distance at the 1954 Commonwealth Games and later became a leading neurologist. ![]()
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