On this day, May 6, 1954 at Iffley Road track in Oxford, English athlete Roger Bannister ran the first ever sub-four minte mile, running it in 3:59.4.
At the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki Bannister set a British record in the 1500 metres finishing in fourth place. It was that event that strengthened his resolve to run a mile in under four minutes.
The mile athletic event is the only non-metric distance that is still internationally recognised.
The current record for the mile is 3:43.13, which is held by Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj. He also holds the world record for the 1500 metres at a time of 3:26. The race was run in 1998.
Svetlana Materkova fromt the Russian Federation holds the woman's title, which stands at 4:12.56.
Sir Roger was born in March 1929 and died in March 2018.
By trade he was a neuro surgeon.
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