Roger Bannister

Medical student Roger Bannister becomes the first man to break the 4-minute barrier in the mile run on May 6, 1954, at the rain-dampened, blustery Iffley Road Track in Oxford, England. It was a feat that many thought was impossible. This photo ran on the front page of The Times the next day with the headline, “4-Minute Mile Is Achieved By Bannister of England; Bannister Runs Mile in World Record Time of 3:59.4.”

“Paced by two other runners, Bannister completed four laps around a cinder track here in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds, a milestone that captured the world’s fascination and still resonates,” The Times wrote in 2014.

Bannister said breaking the 4-minute mark “was a target. University athletes had been trying for years, and it just didn’t seem to be capable of being broken. There was this magic about four symmetrical laps of one minute each. It was just something which caught the public’s imagination. I think it still remains something that is of interest and intrigue.”

The Times wrote, “Bannister’s 3:59.4 remains part of track and field lore, a symbol of boundary-breaking endurance that stands the test of time. It is only a slice of Bannister’s life story. He retired from running at the end of 1954 and pursued a long career in neurology that he considers more significant than anything he accomplished on the track.”