James John Bailey (21 July 1929 – 31 March 2020) was an Australian

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, ranging from 500 metres up to . The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distanc ...

. He reached semifinals of the 800 metres event at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...

. While running for the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

under

Bill Bowerman William Jay Bowerman (February 19, 1911 – December 24, 1999) was an American track and field coach and co-founder of Nike, Inc. Over his career, he trained 31 Olympic Games, Olympic athletes, 51 All-Americans, 12 American record-holders, 2 ...

, he was the 1955 NCAA Champion in the mile. He would become the first of a string of sub-4 minute milers under Bowerman. John Landy and Jim Bailey 1956

Biography

Bailey was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and grew up in the central-west NSW town of

Parkes, New South Wales Parkes is a town in the Central West (New South Wales), Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the main settlement in the local government in Australia, local government area of Parkes Shire. Parkes had a population of 9,83 ...

where his father was a health and buildings inspector with Parkes Municipal Council. After a decade in the country, the family moved to

Hurstville, New South Wales Hurstville is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is south of the Sydney CBD and is part of the St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Georges River Council. The ...

which allowed Bailey to pursue his running by joining the local St George Athletics Club. On 5 May 1956, Bailey was part of a mile race at the

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the Los Angeles Coliseum or L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park, Los Angeles, Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. Conceived as a hal ...

. The race was a promotional effort to drum up interest in the

1956 Olympics 1956 Olympics refers to both: *The 1956 Winter Olympics, which were held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy *The 1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were ...

to be held in Australia. His compatriot

John Landy John Michael Landy (12 April 1930 – 24 February 2022) was an Australian middle-distance runner and state governor. He was the second man to break the four-minute mile barrier in the mile run and held the world records for the 1500-metre run ...

was going to make an attempt to become the first person to break the

4 minute mile ''4 Minute Mile'' is a 2014 American drama film directed by Charles-Olivier Michaud, written by Jeff Van Wie and Josh Campbell, and starring Kelly Blatz, Richard Jenkins, Cam Gigandet, Lio Tipton, Rhys Coiro, and Kim Basinger. It is distributed ...

on American soil. As the NCAA Champion, he joined other top level participants including

Bill Dellinger William Solon Dellinger (born March 23, 1934) is a retired American middle-distance runner, and track and field and cross country coach. He competed in the 5,000 m at the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympics and won a bronze medal in 1964, setting his p ...

, Jerome Walters, Lon Spurrier and

Ron Delany Ronald Michael Delany (born 6 March 1935) is an Irish former athlete who specialised in middle-distance running. He won a gold medal in the 1500 metres at the 1956 Summer Olympics. He later earned a bronze medal in the 1500 metres event at the ...

. The lesser known Delany, who would win the Olympic 1500 later that year ran a fast first lap, separating from the field. Landy caught up with Delany a straightaway (100 yards) short of the halfway point in the race, with much of the field still in contact. As Delany continued to lead the pack, Landy broke away off the front, putting more than 10 yards on the field on the backstretch. As others fell off the pace, Bailey moved up with Delany with a lap to go. By this point Landy had a 15-yard lead. Landy accelerated for his final lap, occasionally looking back to see the size of his lead. Bailey too accelerated for his last lap. Down the final backstretch, he was sprinting much faster than Landy, catching him with about 200 yards to go. Landy did not give up, keeping Bailey to his outside the entire turn. Bailey held the advantage coming off the turn and maintained it to the finish, winning by two steps. Landy succeeded in breaking the 4 minute mile, but the first to do it on American soil was Bailey, a tick of a second earlier, running 3:58.6, a 6-second personal record. Bailey was ranked #3 miler in the world in 1956. After retiring from competitions he played professional rugby in Australia. He then returned to the United States and lived in the Pacific Northwest for the rest of his life, working as a sportswear promoter in

Kirkland, Washington Kirkland is a city in King County, Washington, United States. A suburb east of Seattle, its population was 92,175 in the 2020 U.S. census which made it the sixth largest city in King County and the twelfth largest city in the state of Washington. ...

, and then a real estate agent in

Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the county seat of Whatcom County, Washington, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It lies south of the Canada–United States border, U.S.–Canada border, between Vancouver, British Columbia, ...

. He died on 31 March 2020 in

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Jim 1929 births 2020 deaths Athletes (track and field) at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Australian male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes for Australia Oregon Ducks men's track and field athletes Commonwealth Games athletes for Australia People from Parkes, New South Wales Sportsmen from New South Wales Australian Athletics Championships winners Athletes from New South Wales NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners 20th-century Australian sportsmen