He’d done what so many believed was impossible.īannister Opened The Door For Others To Do The Impossible As Wellīannister later said that he believed Landy had lost heart – the four-minute mark had become a barrier for him.Īnd yet, just 46 days after Bannister broke the record, Landy beat his time. The announcement was drowned out by the crowd. 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. “Ladies and gentlemen, here is the result of event nine, the one mile: first, number forty one, R. He was exhausted but, driven by the years of training and his determination, he crossed the finish line and collapsed – exhausted. He flew past Chataway onto the last straight. He needed to do the last one in 59 seconds. Then he overtook him.īannister began his last lap with a time of 3.07. Straight away, Bannister and Brasher took the lead. By the time the race began, the wind was up to fifteen miles an hour. He was worried about the weather – the wind was strong that day. There were no other options.īannister spent the morning at the hospital where he was working towards his medical degree. Bannister had rested for five days before because he’d reached his peak, both physically and psychologically.īut Landy was already on his way to Finland for his next shot – in the supposed “ideal” conditions.īannister knew that if he didn’t break the record that day, Landy might beat him. It was cold, the track was wet, and there were only 3000 people in the the Iffley Road crowd. The experts believed that the record would only be broken on a day with no wind, at 20 degrees Celsius, on a hard dry clay track, probably in Scandinavia, and in front of a huge cheering crowd of tens of thousands of people. Bannister’s chance came on May 6th, 1954. Lots of runners were hot on his heels, including his main rival, Australian John Landy. It was a race to the bottom and Bannister wanted to win. He started to see it as possible.īut Bannister wasn’t the only one going for it. He was seconds off of breaking the four minute barrier. He trained for half an hour a day, doing intense speed workouts. Not just hard, or dangerous, but impossible.īannister decided to do it – to run a mile in less than four minutes.Ī literally impossible feat – something that had never been done. Some doctors and scientists said it was physically impossible to run a mile in less than four minutes. In the 1940s, the record for running a mile had reached 4:01. ![]() He decided to use his pain and humiliation to drive himself forward and push his limits. In the end, he decided to prove to himself, and to everyone else, that he could do better. He Failed To Medal At The OlympicsĪnd he was gutted – so much so that he spent the next two months deciding whether or not to quit running. Everyone expected him to win.īut, at the last minute, the schedule was changed, disrupting Bannister’s resting routine and he came in fourth. At this point, expectations were high – Bannister expected to win the 1500 meters. While he declined to compete in the 1948 Olympics, watching it inspired him to push forward & compete in the 1952 Olympics. While he was at university, the press got wind of his talent. He discovered he had a talent for running and knuckled down to train. He decided to win a university scholarship – which he did. His hard work paid off – he won a track scholarship to Oxford University. Needless to say – if war is the only thing you’re looking forward to – things aren’t looking to great for your story. He thought it would ‘liven things up a bit’. ![]() ![]() ![]() He wanted to study medicine, but he knew his parents would never be able to afford to send him to university.īy the time he was ten, he thought life was so boring that he was actually pleased about the second World War. Bannister Opened The Door For Others To Do The Impossible As Wellīannister came from an ordinary working class family.Bannister’s chance came on May 6th, 1954.Bannister wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
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