Sir Roger Bannister, the man who broke the four-minute mile barrier, dead at 88

  • 05/03/2018

British athlete Sir Roger Bannister, the first man to run a mile in under four minutes, has died aged 88.

Sir Roger became the first man to break the four-minute mile when he clocked 3m 59.4s at a sports ground in Oxford on May 6, 1954.

"Sir Roger Bannister, died peacefully in Oxford on 3 March, aged 88, surrounded by his family who were as loved by him, as he was loved by them," his family said in a statement.

"He banked his treasure in the hearts of his friends."

Sir Roger Bannister, holding the stopwatch used to record his record-breaking mile.
Sir Roger Bannister, holding the stopwatch used to record his record-breaking mile. Photo credit: Reuters

Only a few spectators at the local track meet witnessed the Englishman's destruction of the myth that no human being could run so fast.

Sir Roger made headlines around the world at the age of 25.

Seven weeks later Australian John Landy beat Sir Roger's record with a mile in 3m 57.9s and in August, Sir Roger lowered his own time to 3m 58.8s, beating Landy at the Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, Canada.

He retired soon afterwards and became a neurologist. In 1975 he was knighted.

He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2011.

The current world record for the mile is 3m 43.13s, set by Hicham El Guerrouj from Morocco in 1999.

Reuters / Newshub.