Track

= Bannister Breaks the 4 minute =

By: Sabina H.
On May 6, 1954, the Iffley road track held a race in Oxford and it was races for the Amateur athletic association against his old university. Roger Bannister a twenty-five year old British medical student attended this and put in awe the whole crowd. As the race began, Brasher came in first place, Bannister in second and Chataway in third. Two-hundred and fifty yards left of the race and Chataway took the lead with Bannister still in second place. At 200 yards from the finish line Bannister takes the lead, sprinting his way to first place with a huge amount of energy, prepared to win the whole race! At reaching the finish line he falls into the arms of his friend and remarkably makes history as the first man in the whole world to run a mile in less than four minutes. His time was 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds, this made sports history. [|video]

"Ladies and gentlemen, here is the result of event 9, the one-mile: 1st, No. 41, R.G. Bannister, Amateur Athletic Association and formerly of Exeter and Merton Colleges, Oxford, with a time which is a new meeting and track record, and which - subject to ratification - will be a new English Native, British National, All-Comers, European, British Empire, and World Record. The time was 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds"-Norris McWhirter(stadium announcer)