Roger Bannister showed others that breaking the 4-minute mile barrier was not only possible, but it was a mindset. Since 1954, thousands more have also been able to break the 4-minute mile … because one person showed them it was possible. “The real story is always behind the story though … we can learn so much more from the adversity that people break through rather than the achievement they’re known for.” In 1954, Roger Bannister was the first person to break the 4-minute mile. And these same naysayers believed it was crazy to even try. This was known as the 4-minute mile.ĭoctors, psychologists and even other expert runners assumed that the human body could not perform at that level – it was physically impossible. Up until 1954, it was thought to be impossible that anyone could run a mile quicker than 4 minutes. We all have naysayers in some way don’t we? And sometimes, the naysayer is our own mind! The story of Bannister is also a great one to share with others to help motivate them to think differently and press onward to achieve what naysayers might say is “impossible.” It’s one of my favorites because the story shares a universal message that will help all of us break through adversity and envision new possibility in our personal lives and career. But I managed to close the gap during the third lap, and then on the last bend he looked over his left shoulder and I chose that moment to overtake him and we managed to finish in that order: Bannister 1 and Landy 2, by about four yards.If you’ve been in one of my audiences during a presentation, then you likely have heard the amazing story about Roger Bannister. At three-quarters he seemed to be getting away from me and there was a gap of about 12 yards at one point. The first half-mile was just on 2 minutes. If I didn't manage to defeat John Landy there, he would be the world record holder and have the right to be the best miler in the world.'' The Empire Games in Vancouver were the important settling of the score. ''I knew that more important than the 4-minute mile, from the point of view of my career, was whether I could or could not defeat John Landy. On his showdown against John Landy at the Empire Games in Vancouver, British Columbia: Bannister, of Merton and Exeter Colleges, in a time which subject to ratification, is a new track record, a new British all-comers record, a new European record, a new Commonwealth Empire record, a new world record in 3.' That was when the crowd exploded and we didn't hear any more. On the announcement of his time by Norris McWhirter: I had always been able to take more out of myself than there was in the final sprint and I did on that occasion.'' I then went flat out for the finishing line and just about managed to stagger over it, all in. Three quarters, I heard was 3 minutes, 1 second. Then during the lap in which Chris Chataway took over, inevitably he was tiring. First lap, 58 seconds, and then as one hoped, he took us through the half-mile in 1:58. Word got out that I might break the 4-minute mile, but I didn't want to be rail-roaded to being committed to running it if the conditions were absolutely hopeless.'' Matter of fact, there weren't more than 1,500. ''If the number of people who have come up to me saying they were there, they would have fit into Wembley Stadium. On the size of the crowd at Oxford's Iffley Road track on the day of his run: I said, `If there's a 50-50 chance and I don't take it, I may never get another chance to beat (John) Landy to it.' So I said, `Let's do it.''' I calculated there's a 50-50 chance of my doing it. And I felt that just 20 minutes before, it was not fluttering as strongly. I noticed it fluttering and I used that as a measure of the strength of the wind. ''I was using a flag on a neighboring church, a St. On the bad weather on the day of his attempt and his uncertainty over whether to run: Although I tried in 1953, I broke the British record, but not the 4-minute mile, and so everything was ready in 1954.'' Our new queen had been crowned the year before, Everest had been climbed in 1953. ''I thought it would be right for Britain to try to get this. My attitude was that it can be done, and it will be done soon, and I'd rather it were done here.'' ''It stood there as something that was waiting to be done, and I was in the right place at the right time and was ready to do it. On his drive to be the first to break the 4-minute barrier:
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