Roger Bannister

At 88 years old, Roger Bannister has this physical status:

Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister (23 March 1929 – March 3, 2018) was a British middle-distance runner and neurologist who ran the first sub-minute mile in a row. Bannister set a British record in the 1500 meters and finished in fourth place at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki.

This achievement boosted his resolve to become the first male to complete the mile run in less than four minutes.

He made this happen on May 6th, 1954 at Iffley Road in Oxford, with Chris Chataway and Chris Brasher providing the pacing.

The audience erupted as Norris McWhirter, the announcer, announced "The time was three."

When practising as a junior doctor, he had a very similar success.

Bannister's record stood for only 46 days. Bannister went on to become a Pembroke College, Oxford's neurologist and master before retiring in 1993.

He was on the governing body of Abingdon School from 1986 to 1993. He was Master of Pembroke.

When asked whether the 4-minute mile was his highest achievement, he said he felt prouder of his contribution to academic medicine through study into the nervous system's responses.

Bannister was a member of the MSA Trust.

In 2011, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

Early life and education

Bannister was born in Harrow, London, on March 23, 1929. Ralph and Alice's parents were both from Lancashire's working class families. Ralph had left London at the age of 15, to serve in the Civil Service, and Alice was visiting Alice on a trip home. They married in 1925 and had a child, Joyce, before Roger was born.

After Ralph's removal from Bath early in World War II, the family migrated to Bath, and Roger continued his education at City of Bath Boys' School. He discovered a natural talent for cross-country running by winning the junior cross-country cup three times, which culminated in him receiving a miniature replica trophy.

The family's home was also badly wounded during a bombing raid on Bath as the Bannisters were sheltered in the basement.

The family returned to London in 1944, and Roger went to University College School. Bannister was accepted into St John's College, Cambridge, but Senior Tutor Robert Howland, a former Olympic shot putter, suggested that Bannister wait a year. He began to apply to Exeter College, Oxford, and was accepted for a three-year degree in Medicine after the year.

Personal life

In 1955, Bannister married Swedish artist Moyra Elver Jacobsson in Basel, Switzerland. Moyra Jacobsson-Bannister, the Swedish economist Per Jacobsson, who served as the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, was the niece of the Swedish economist Per Jacobsson.

They had four children: Carol E. Bannister (b. ), she had a child. Clive C. R. Bannister (b. 1957); Thurstan R. Bannister (b. July 1960), an insurance executive, and Charlotte B. Bannister (b. ), an insurance industry executive. Charlotte Bannister-Parker, associate priest at the University Church of St Mary the Virgin in Oxford, 1963.

Bannister was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2011. He died in Oxford on March 3, 2018, 20 days before his 89th birthday. He is buried in Wolvercote Cemetery near Oxford.

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Athletics career

Bannister was inspired by miler Sydney Wooderson's comeback in 1945. Wooderson regained his old form and defeated Andersson and Gunder Hägg in several runs eight years after establishing the mile record and seeing it eclipsed during the war years. Wooderson lost to Andersson, but Gothenburg set a British record of 4:04.2 on September 9th.

Bannister, like Wooderson, would eventually set a record, see it broken, and then set a new personal record slower than the new one.

Bannister began his running career at Oxford in the fall of 1946 at the age of 17. He had never worn running spikes before or run on a track. His preparation was light, even compared to the old ones, but he displayed promise in running a mile in 1947 in 4:24.6 on only three weekly half-hour training sessions.

In 1948, he was named as an Olympic "possible" but ultimately dropped because he felt he was not able to compete at that level. However, he was still inspired to be a great miler by attending the 1948 Olympics. He set his fitness targets for the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki.

He rode a 81-yard (804.67 m) run to 1:52.7 in 1949 and won many mile races in 4:11. He came in third at White City in 4:14.2 after a six-week absence from training.

With a record 57.5 last quarter, the year 1950 saw more change, as he came to a halt 4:13-mile on July 1st. He won the AAA 880 in 1:52.1, losing to Arthur Wint, and then ran 1:50.7 for the 800 meters at the European Championships on August 26, placing third. Bannister began training harder and more often as a result of this lack of success.

As he took a mile race in 4:09.9 on December 30, his increased dedication to fitness paid dividends in a hurry. Bannister took the lead after a 56.7 final lap in 1951, finishing in 4:08.3. In his biggest test to date, then won a mile run at White City in 4:07.8 on July 14th. Bill Nankeville, the current champion, was defeated in the process by a time record, which was a meet record.

Bannister was defeated, but Andrija Otenhajmer, who was aware of Bannister's last-lap kick, ran a 1500 m race in Belgrade 25 August out at a breakneck pace, causing Bannister to close the gap by the bell lap. Otenhajmer won in 3:47.0, although Bannister set a personal record of placing second in 3:48.4. Bannister was no longer seen as invincible.

His preparation was a highly developed individualised mix of interval training influenced by coach Franz Stampfl's influence, including elements of block periodization, fell running, and anaerobic training that were later perfected by Arthur Lydiard.

Bannister was a medical student at nearby St Mary's Hospital from 1951 to 1954. At the pavilion, there are two Bannister plaques, both of whom were unveiled by him on September ten; a rectangular historical plaque with additional information. Bannister was able to train for just an hour a day as a result of his medical research, according to the former.

Bannister did not return to racing until the spring of 1952, saving his energy for Helsinki and the Olympics. On 28 May 1952, he completed an 880-yard (800 m) run, followed by a 4:10.6-mile time trial on June 7th, proclaiming himself happy with the findings. He skipped the mile and won the 880 in 1:51.5 at the AAA championships. Then ran a 34 mile time trial in 2:52.9, giving him the confidence that he was good for the Olympics as the time was equivalent to a four-minute mile.

His excitement soon faded, but when it was revealed that semi-finals for the 1500 meters (equivalent to 0.932 miles) at the Olympics, he preferred runners with much deeper training regimens than he did. Bannister finished fifth in his semi-finals and thus qualified for the final, but he was "bloated and dissatisfied."

The 1500 m final, which will be one of the most spectacular in Olympic history, will be held on July 26, 1952. The run was not decided until the final meters, with Josy Barthel of Luxembourg winning in an Olympic-record 3:45.28 (3:45.1 by official hand-timing) with the next seven runners all under the old record. Bannister came fourth in fifth place out of the medals, but he set a new British record of 3:46.30 (3:46.0) in the process.

Bannister spent two months ago deciding whether or not to give up running after his relative's defeat at the 1952 Olympics. He set himself a new challenge: to run a mile in under four minutes. According to reports, he increased his workouts and had hard intervals.

On May 2, 1953, he made an attempt at the British record at Oxford. Bannister ran 4:03.6, downing Wooderson's 1945 record. Bannister said, "This run made me realize that the four-minute mile was not out of reach."

A mile run was introduced into the Surrey schools athletic meeting on June 27, 1953. Don Macmillan, the fourth in the 1500 meters at the 1952 Olympics, set a good pace in a one lap and a 1:59.7 for two runners. After two and a half laps, Chris Brasher picked up the pace. The Brasher had jogged the race, allowing Bannister to lap him in order to be a new pacesetter. Bannister reached a distance of 3:08.8, the highest and first sub-four-minute mile. However, the attempt came to an end in 4:02.0, a time when only Andersson and Hägg led the way. Bannister said in retrospect that British officials would not allow this performance to stand as a British record, which was a good decision. "I'm so relieved that I did not run a four-minute mile under such artificial conditions."

However, other runners were making their attempts at the four-minute barrier and coming close as well. On June 5, 1953, American Wes Santee ran 4:02.4 in the fourth fastest mile ever. And at the end of the year, Australian John Landy finished 4:02.0.

Landy made some more attempts at the distance in 1954. He ran 4:02.4 in Melbourne on January 21, 1954, then 4:02.6 on February 23, 1954, and then 4:02.6 on April 19th, the Australian season's end, running 4:02.6 again.

Bannister had been following Landy's attempts and was sure his Australian rival would triumph with each one. Landy's season-closing attempt on April 19th would be his last until he returned to Finland for another attempt, but Bannister knew he'd have to try again soon.

During a match between British AAA and Oxford University at Iffley Road Track in Oxford on May 6, 1954, about 3,000 spectators watched this historic event. Bannister had said twice that he preferred not to run to save his energy and try to crack the 4-minute barrier before the event, but he will try again at another meet. However, the winds dropped just before the race was set to begin, and Bannister did run.

The pace-setters from his major 1953 debuts, future Commonwealth Games gold medalist Christopher Chataway of the 2nd May's challenge, and future Olympic Games gold medalist Chris Brasher from the 27th June attempt all worked together to provide pacing for Bannister's run. Harold Abrahams, a 1924 Olympic 100 meters champion and a renowned Chariots of Fire legend, was on hand to broadcast live by BBC Radio and commentated by 1924 Olympic 100 meters champion Harold Abrahams, who was a member of Chariots of Fire fame.

Bannister had started his day at a hospital in London, where he ignited his racing spikes and rubbed graphite on them so they did not pick up too much cinder ash. He rode from Paddington Station to Oxford in mid-morning, afraid of the rainy, windy weather that afternoon.

The mile was divided into two categories, including Alan Gordon, George Dole and Nigel Miller from Oxford University, as well as four British AAA runners: Bannister, his two pacemakers Brasher and Chataway, and Tom Hulatt. Nigel Miller arrived as a spectator, and he only realized he was going to run after reading the script. Efforts to borrow a running kit failed, and he was unable to participate, limiting the field to six.

Brasher and Bannister went straight to the front of the pack when the race went off at 6:00 p.m., as promised. Brasher (wearing No. ): The No. 11 is a mercenary. Both the first lap in 58 seconds and the half-mile in 1:58 were led by 44 percent with Bannister (No. 1). (No. 41) tucked in behind, Chataway (No. 3) and Chataway (No. 5) were tucked in behind. Bannister comes in 42nd, a stride behind him. After the second lap and kept the pace with a 3:01 split at the final lap, Chataway leapt to the front. Chataway continued to lead around the front turn until Bannister's finishing kick (less than half a lap) was completed in less than 59 seconds in the last lap.

Norris McWhirter, the race's announcer, went on to co-publish and co-edit the Guinness Book of Records. Bannister's race time was teased to the audience by deferring his announcement.

The crowd erupted out the rest of the announcement. Bannister's time was 3 minutes 59.4 seconds.

According to Bannister's book "The Four Minute Mile (1955), a four-minute mile was once thought to be impossible by "informed" observers, and it was widely spread by sportswriters and debunked by Bannister himself.

The reason for the myth was that four minutes fell short of a world record (by just 1.4 seconds) for nine years, a longer duration than it might have been due to the effects of the Second World War in disrupting athletic development in the warzone countries. Gunder Hägg and Arne Andersson, two Swedish runners, had already defeated the world mile record by five seconds to the pre-Bannister record in a series of head-to-head runs between 1942 and 1945. The fact that Bannister completed a four-minute mile on very low-mileage training by modern standards has surprised even more.

Bannister's record was broken by his adversary, John Landy, in Turku, Finland, in a time of 3 minutes 58.0 seconds, which the IAAF approved as 3 minutes 58.0 seconds.

Bannister, a member of the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, B.C., USA, defeated Landy for the first time in a race dubbed "The Miracle Mile" on August 7th. They were the only two men in the world to have cracked the 4-minute barrier, with Landy still holding the world record.

Landy led the way for the majority of the run, building a 10 yard lead on the third lap (out of four), but Bannister took the lead in 3 min 58.8 s, leaving Landy 0.8 s behind in 3 min 59.6 seconds.

A larger-than-life bronze sculpture of the two men was created by Vancouver sculptor Jack Harman in 1967 from a photograph by Vancouver Sun photographer Charlie Warner and spent many years at Empire Stadium; after the stadium was demolished, the sculpture was relocated a short distance away to the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) fairgrounds in Hastings and Renfrew. "While Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt for looking back, I am probably the only one ever turned into bronze for looking back."

Bannister won the so-called metric mile, the 1500 m, at the European Championships in Bern, Switzerland, on August 29th, a new record in neuroscience research. The following year, he was named a CBE for "services to amateur athletics."

Bannister was appointed as the first Chairman of the Sports Council (now Sport England) in 1975 and was honoured for his service. His patronage, central and local government support of sports centers and other sports facilities was quickly funded, and he also started the first experiments in sport using anabolic steroids.

Medical career

Bannister spent the next forty years practising medicine in the field of neurology after retiring from athletics in 1954. He joined the Royal Army Medical Corps in Crookham, where he began his two years of National Service in March 1957 with the rank of lieutenant.

His main contribution to academic medicine was in the field of autonomic dysfunction, which was primarily limited to disorders due to the absence of certain automatic responses of the nervous system (for example, elevated heart rate when standing up). He has published more than eighty papers, mainly concerned with the autonomic nervous system, cardiovascular physiology, and multiple system atrophy. With C.J., he edited Autonomic Failure: A Textbook of Clinical Disorders of the Autonomic Nervous System. Mathias, a St Mary's colleague, as well as five editions of Brain and Bannister's Clinical Neurology, are among the five editions.

Bannister said he was more proud of his contributions to medicine than he was running for office. In a 2014 interview, Bannister said that he'd rather be remembered for my neurology research than my running. I'd take the four-minute mile right away if you gave me the opportunity to make a breakthrough in the field of autonomic nerve technology. I have been working in medicine for 60 years. "I ran for about eight hours."

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