Roger Bannister

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Roger Bannister bigraphy, stories - English middle distance athlete

Roger Bannister : biography

23 March 1929 –

Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister, CBE (born 23 March 1929) is an English former athlete best known for running the first mile in less than 4 minutes.

In the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Bannister set a British record in the 1500 metres, but did not win the medal he expected. This humiliation strengthened his resolve to be the first 4-minute miler.

This was finally achieved on May 6th 1954 at Iffley Road Track in Oxford, with Chris Chataway and Chris Brasher providing the pacing. When the announcer declared "The time was three…", the cheers of the crowd drowned-out the details of the result, which was 3 min 59.4 sec.

Bannister’s record only lasted 46 days. More notable was that he had reached this goal with so little training, while practising as a junior doctor.

Bannister went on to become a distinguished neurologist and Master of Pembroke College, Oxford, before retiring in 1993. When asked whether the 4-minute mile was his proudest achievement, he said he felt prouder of his contribution to academic medicine through research into the responses of the nervous system. Bannister is patron of the .

Sports Council and knighthood

He later became the first Chairman of the Sports Council (now called Sport England) and was knighted for this service in 1975.]

, 31 December 1974] Under his aegis, central and local government funding of sports centres and other sports facilities was rapidly increased, and he also initiated the first testing for use of anabolic steroids in sport.Epstein, David, "Sir Roger’s Run", Sports Illustrated, 4 July 2011, pp. 102-106.