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Roger Bannister 
was Britain's 
leading mile 
runner in the 
early Fifties.
Here he is seen 
at the age of 20, 
running the mile 
in the student 
championships at 
the White City, in 
London. He won 
that day, with a 
time of 4 minutes 
20 seconds
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Bannister achieved 
athletic immort-
ality on May 6, 
1954, when he 
became the first 
man to run the 
mile in less than 
four minutes. He 
was helped by two 
pacemakers, Chris 
Brasher and Chris 
Chataway
#
As Bannister 
himself said, 
"The four-
minute mile had 
become rather like 
an Everest, a 
challenge to the 
human spirit." His 
achievement was 
very big news in 
Britain: this is how 
The Times of 
London reported 
the story on the 
day after 
Bannister's record
#
A year after the 
record, Bannister 
revealed his feel-
ings about his 
achievement, 
with pacemakers 
Brasher and 
Chataway: "We 
shared a place 
where no man 
had yet ventured 
- secure for all
time, however 
fast men may run 
in the future." In 
fact his record 
stood for only a 
few weeks
#
Bannister retired 
from athletics at 
the end of 1954. 
He trained as a 
neurologist, and 
later became 
Master of
Pembroke College, 
Oxford. He keeps 
both the shoes 
and the number he 
wore when setting 
the mile record in 
a box at his home
- but he doesn't 
know where
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