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01442_Field_7.cap.txt
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1996-03-14
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85 lines
@
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
#
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
@