Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister (23 March 1929 – 3 March 2018) was an English
neurologist
Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous system, which comprises the brain, the ...
and
middle-distance athlete who ran the first sub-
4-minute mile.
At the
1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Bannister set a British record in the
1500 metres
The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...
and finished in fourth place. This achievement strengthened his resolve to become the first athlete to finish the
mile run in under four minutes. He accomplished this feat on 6 May 1954 at
Iffley Road track in
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
, with
Chris Chataway and
Chris Brasher
Christopher William Brasher CBE (21 August 1928 – 28 February 2003) was a British track and field athlete, Olympic champion, sports journalist and co-founder of the London Marathon.
Early life and education
Born in Georgetown, British Gui ...
providing the pacing. When the announcer,
Norris McWhirter, declared "The time was three...", the cheers of the crowd drowned out Bannister's exact time, which was 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds. He had attained this record with minimal training, while practising as a
junior doctor. Bannister's record lasted just 46 days.
Bannister went on to become a neurologist and Master of
Pembroke College, Oxford
Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located on Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England and VI of Scotland, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale ...
, before retiring in 1993. As Master of Pembroke, he was on the governing body of
Abingdon School
Abingdon School is an independent day and boarding school in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. It is the List of the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, twentieth oldest Independent School (UK), independent British school. In May 202 ...
from 1986 to 1993. When asked whether the 4-minute mile was his proudest achievement, he said he felt prouder of his contribution to academic medicine through research into the responses of the nervous system. Bannister was patron of the
MSA Trust. He was diagnosed with
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...
in 2011.
Early life and education
Bannister was born on 23 March 1929 in
Harrow, London.
His parents, Ralph and Alice,
were both from working-class families in
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
. Ralph had moved to London at the age of 15 to work in the
Civil Service
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...
, and met Alice on a trip home.
They married in 1925, and had a daughter, Joyce, before Roger was born.
The family moved to
Bath
Bath may refer to:
* Bathing, immersion in a fluid
** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body
** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe
* Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities
Plac ...
shortly after the outbreak of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
when Ralph was relocated there, and Roger continued his education at
City of Bath Boys' School.
Here he discovered a talent for
cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and soil, earth, pass through woodlands and ope ...
, winning the junior cross-country cup three consecutive times, which led to him being presented with a miniature replica trophy.
During a
bombing raid on Bath, the family house was severely damaged as the Bannisters sheltered in the basement.
In 1944, the family returned to London and Roger went to
University College School.
Bannister was accepted into
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...
but the Senior Tutor
Robert Howland, a former Olympic
shot put
The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...
ter, suggested that Bannister wait a year. After the year he proceeded to apply to
Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university.
The college was founde ...
and was accepted for a three-year degree in Medicine.
Athletics career
Early running career
Bannister was inspired by miler
Sydney Wooderson's comeback in 1945. Eight years after setting the mile record and seeing it surpassed during the war years by the Swedish runners
Arne Andersson and
Gunder Hägg, Wooderson regained his old form and challenged Andersson over the distance in several races.
Wooderson lost to Andersson but set a British record of 4:04.2 in
Gothenburg
Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
on 9 September.
Like Wooderson, Bannister would ultimately set a mile record, see it broken, and then set a new personal best slower than the new record.
Bannister started his running career at
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
in the autumn of 1946 at the age of 17.
He had never worn running spikes previously or run on a track.
His training was light, even compared to the standards of the day, but he showed promise in running a mile in 1947 in 4:24.6 on only three weekly half-hour training sessions.
He was selected as an Olympic "possible" in 1948 but declined as he felt he was not ready to compete at that level.
However, he was further inspired to become a great miler by watching the
1948 Olympics. He set his training goals on the
1952 Olympics in Helsinki.
In 1949, he improved in the run to 1:52.7 and won several mile races in 4:11.
Then, after a period of six weeks with no training, he came in third at
White City in 4:14.2.
The year 1950 saw more improvements as he finished a relatively slow 4:13-mile on 1 July with an impressive 57.5 last quarter. Then, he ran the
AAA 880 in 1:52.1, losing to
Arthur Wint, and then ran 1:50.7 for the 800 m at the European Championships on 26 August,
placing third.
Chastened by this lack of success, Bannister started to train harder and more seriously.
His increased attention to training paid quick dividends, as he won a mile race in 4:09.9 on 30 December. Then in 1951 at the
Penn Relays
The Penn Relays (officially The Penn Relay Carnival) is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted annually since April 21, 1895 by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. In 2012 ...
, Bannister broke away from the pack with a 56.7 final lap, finishing in 4:08.3. Then, in his biggest test to date, he won a mile race on 14 July in 4:07.8 at the
AAA Championships at White City before 47,000 people. The time set a meet record and he defeated defending champion
Bill Nankeville in the process.
Bannister suffered defeat, however, when
Yugoslavia
, common_name = Yugoslavia
, life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation
, p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia
, flag_p ...
's Andrija Otenhajmer, aware of Bannister's final-lap kick, took a 1500 m race in
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
25 August out at near-record pace, forcing Bannister to close the gap by the bell lap. Otenhajmer won in 3:47.0, though Bannister set a personal best finishing second in 3:48.4. Bannister was no longer seen as invincible.
His training was a very modern individualised mixture of
interval training influenced by coach
Franz Stampfl with elements of block
periodisation,
fell running
Fell running, also sometimes known as hill running, is the sport of running and racing, off-road, over upland country where the gradient climbed is a significant component of the difficulty. The name arises from the origins of the English sport o ...
and anaerobic elements of training which were later perfected by
Arthur Lydiard.

From 1951 to 1954, Bannister trained at the track at
Paddington Recreation Ground in
Maida Vale
Maida Vale ( ) is an affluent residential district in North West London, England, north of Paddington, southwest of St John's Wood and south of Kilburn, on Edgware Road. It is part of the City of Westminster and is northwest of Charing C ...
while he was a medical student at the nearby
St Mary's Hospital. There are two Bannister plaques at the pavilion, both unveiled by him on 10 September 2000; a circular
blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...
and a rectangular
historic plaque containing additional information. According to the latter, Bannister was able to train for just an hour each day due to his medical studies.
1952 Olympics
Bannister avoided racing after the 1951 season until late in the spring of 1952, saving his energy for Helsinki and the Olympics. He ran an run on 28 May 1952 in 1:53.00, followed by a 4:10.6-mile time-trial on 7 June, proclaiming himself satisfied with the results. At the
AAA championships, he skipped the mile and won the 880 in 1:51.5.
Then, 10 days before the Olympic final, he ran a mile time trial in 2:52.9,
which gave him confidence that he was ready for the Olympics as he considered the time to be the equivalent of a four-minute mile.
His confidence soon dissipated, however, as it was announced there would be semi-finals for the 1500 m at the Olympics,
which he felt favoured runners who had much deeper training regimens than he did. When he ran his semi-final, Bannister finished fifth and thereby qualified for the final, but he felt "blown and unhappy".
The
1500 m final on 26 July 1952 would prove to be one of the more dramatic in Olympic history.
The race was not decided until the final metres,
Josy Barthel of
Luxembourg
Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
prevailing 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 finished fourth,
out of the medals, but set a British record of 3:46.30 (3:46.0) in the process.
New goal

After his relative failure at the 1952 Olympics, Bannister spent two months deciding whether to give up running. He set himself on a new goal: to be the first man to run a mile in under four minutes.
Accordingly, he intensified his training and did hard
intervals.
On 2 May 1953, he made an attempt on the British record at
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
. Paced by
Chris Chataway, Bannister ran 4:03.6, shattering Wooderson's 1945 standard.
"This race made me realise that the four-minute mile was not out of reach," said Bannister.
On 27 June 1953, a mile race was inserted into the programme of the
Surrey
Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
schools athletic meeting. Australian runner Don Macmillan, ninth in the 1500 m at the 1952 Olympics, set a strong pace with 59.6 for one lap and 1:59.7 for two. He gave up after two and a half laps, but
Chris Brasher
Christopher William Brasher CBE (21 August 1928 – 28 February 2003) was a British track and field athlete, Olympic champion, sports journalist and co-founder of the London Marathon.
Early life and education
Born in Georgetown, British Gui ...
took up the pace. Brasher had jogged the race, allowing Bannister to lap him so he could be a fresh pace-setter. At mile, Bannister was at 3:01.8, the record—and first sub-four-minute mile—in reach. But the effort fell short with a finish in 4:02.0, a time bettered by only
Arne Andersson (4:01.6 in 1944) and
Gunder Hägg (4:01.4 in 1945).
British officials would not allow this performance to stand as a British record, which, Bannister felt in retrospect, was a good decision. "My feeling as I look back is one of great relief that I did not run a four-minute mile under such artificial circumstances," he said.
But other runners were making attempts at the four-minute barrier and coming close as well. American
Wes Santee
David Wesley Santee (March 25, 1932 – November 14, 2010) was an American Middle distance track event, middle distance runner and athlete who competed mainly in the 1500 metres, 1,500 meters and mile events.
Born in Ashland, Kansas, Ashland, K ...
ran 4:02.4 on 5 June 1953, the fourth-fastest mile ever. And at the end of the year, Australian
John Landy ran 4:02.0.
Then early in 1954, Landy made some more attempts at the distance. On 21 January 1954, he ran 4:02.4 in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
, then 4:02.6 on 23 February 1954, and at the end of the Australian season on 19 April he ran 4:02.6 again.
Bannister had been following Landy's attempts and was certain his Australian rival would succeed with each one. But knowing that Landy's season-closing attempt on 19 April would be his last until he travelled to
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
for another attempt, Bannister knew he had to make his attempt soon.
Sub-4-minute mile
This historic event took place on 6 May 1954 during a meet between
British AAA and
Oxford University
The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
at
Iffley Road Track in
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
, watched by about 3,000 spectators.
With winds of up to before the event,
Bannister had said twice that he preferred not to run, to conserve his energy and efforts to break the 4-minute barrier; he would try again at another meet. However, the winds dropped just before the race was scheduled to begin, and Bannister did run.
The pace-setters from his major 1953 attempts, future
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...
gold medallist
Christopher Chataway
Sir Christopher John Chataway (31 January 1931 – 19 January 2014) was a British middle- and long-distance runner, television news broadcaster and Conservative politician.
Education
Chataway was born in Chelsea, London, the son of James Deny ...
from the 2 May attempt, and future
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
gold medallist
Chris Brasher
Christopher William Brasher CBE (21 August 1928 – 28 February 2003) was a British track and field athlete, Olympic champion, sports journalist and co-founder of the London Marathon.
Early life and education
Born in Georgetown, British Gui ...
from the 27 June attempt, combined to provide pacing for Bannister's run. The race
Includes full footage of the race. was broadcast live by
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...
and commentated by
1924 Olympic 100 metres champion
Harold Abrahams
Harold Maurice Abrahams (15 December 1899 – 14 January 1978) was an English track and field athlete. He was Olympic champion in 1924 in the 100 metres sprint, a feat depicted in the 1981 film '' Chariots of Fire''.
Early life and educati ...
, of ''
Chariots of Fire
''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 historical drama, historical Sports film, sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Summer ...
'' fame.
Bannister had begun his day at a hospital in London, where he sharpened his racing spikes and rubbed graphite on them so they would not pick up too much cinder ash. He took a mid-morning train from
Paddington Station
Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a London station group, London railway station and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by ...
to Oxford, nervous about the rainy, windy conditions that afternoon.
Being a dual-meet format, there were seven men entered in the mile: Alan Gordon, George Dole and Nigel Miller from Oxford University; and four British AAA runners: Bannister, his two pacemakers Brasher and Chataway, and
Tom Hulatt. Nigel Miller arrived as a spectator and he only realised that he was due to run when he read the programme. Efforts to borrow a running kit failed and he could not take part, thus reducing the field to six.
The race went off as scheduled at 6:00 pm, and Brasher and Bannister went immediately to the front of the pack.
Brasher (wearing No. 44) led both the first lap in 58 seconds and the half-mile in 1:58, with Bannister (No. 41) tucked in behind, and Chataway (No. 42) a stride behind Bannister.
Chataway moved to the front after the second lap and maintained the pace with a 3:01 split at the final lap bell. Chataway continued to lead around the front turn until Bannister began his finishing kick with about 275 yards to go (just over half a lap), running the last lap in just under 59 seconds.
The stadium announcer for the race was
Norris McWhirter, who went on to co-publish and co-edit the ''
Guinness Book of Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...
''. He teased the crowd by delaying his announcement of Bannister's race time for as long as possible:
The roar of the crowd drowned out the rest of the announcement. Bannister's time was 3 minutes 59.4 seconds.
The claim that a four-minute mile was once thought to be impossible by "informed" observers was and is a widely propagated myth created by sportswriters and debunked by Bannister himself in his memoir, ''The Four-Minute Mile'' (1955).
The reason the myth took hold was that four minutes was a round number that lay slightly out of reach of the world record (by just 1.4 seconds) for nine years, which was longer than it might otherwise have been due to the effect of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
in interrupting athletic progress in the combatant countries. The Swedish runners,
Gunder Hägg and
Arne Andersson, in a series of head-to-head races in the period 1942–45, had already
lowered the world mile record by five seconds to the pre-Bannister record. Knowledgeable track fans are still most impressed by the fact that Bannister ran a four-minute mile on very low-mileage training by modern standards.
Just 46 days later, on 21 June 1954, Bannister's record was broken by his rival, John Landy, in
Turku
Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...
,
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
, with a time of 3 minutes 57.9 seconds, which the
IAAF
World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...
ratified as 3 minutes 58.0 seconds due to the rounding rules then in effect.
1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
On 7 August, at the
1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, B.C., Bannister, running for England, competed against Landy for the first time in a race billed as "The Miracle Mile". They were the only two men in the world to have broken the 4-minute barrier, with Landy still holding the world record.

Landy led for most of the race, building a lead of 10 yards in the third lap (of four), but was overtaken on the last bend, and Bannister won in 3 min 58.8 s, with Landy 0.8 s behind in 3 min 59.6 s.
Bannister and Landy have both pointed out that the crucial moment of the race was that at the moment when Bannister decided to try to pass Landy, Landy looked over his left shoulder to gauge Bannister's position and Bannister burst past him on the right, never relinquishing the lead.
A larger-than-life bronze sculpture of the two men at that moment was created by Vancouver sculptor
Jack Harman in 1967 from a photograph by ''
Vancouver Sun
The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, and is the larg ...
'' photographer Charlie Warner and stood for many years at the entrance to
Empire Stadium; after the stadium was demolished the sculpture was moved a short distance away to the Hastings and Renfrew entrance of the
Pacific National Exhibition
The Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) is a nonprofit organization that operates an annual 15-day summer fair, 12-day winter fair, a seasonal amusement park, and indoor arenas in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The PNE fair is held at Hastings ...
(PNE) fairgrounds. Regarding this sculpture, Landy quipped: "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 went on that season to win the so-called
metric mile, the 1500 m, at the
European Championships in
Bern
Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...
, Switzerland, on 29 August, with a championship record in a time of 3 min 43.8 s.
He retired from athletics late in 1954 to concentrate on his work as a junior doctor and to pursue a career in
neurology
Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix wikt:-logia, -logia, "study of") is the branch of specialty (medicine) , medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous syst ...
.
He was appointed a
CBE the following year for "services to amateur athletics".
Sports Council and knighthood
Bannister later became the first Chairman of the Sports Council (now called
Sport England
Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded partners, ...
) and was
knighted for this service in 1975. Under his patronage, central and local government funding of sports centres and other sports facilities was rapidly increased, and he also initiated the first testing for use of
anabolic steroids
Anabolic steroids, also known as anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS), are a class of drugs that are structurally related to testosterone, the main male sex hormone, and produce effects by binding to the androgen receptor (AR). Anabolic steroids ...
in sport.
Medical career
After retiring from athletics in 1954, Bannister spent the next forty years practising medicine in the field of
neurology
Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix wikt:-logia, -logia, "study of") is the branch of specialty (medicine) , medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous syst ...
. In March 1957, he joined the
Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace.
On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...
at Crookham, where he started his two years of
National Service
National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...
with the rank of
lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
.
His major contribution to academic medicine was in the field of
autonomic failure, an area of neurology concerning illnesses characterised by the loss of certain automatic responses of the nervous system (for example, elevated heart rate when standing up). He ultimately published more than eighty papers, mostly concerned with the
autonomic nervous system
The autonomic nervous system (ANS), sometimes called the visceral nervous system and formerly the vegetative nervous system, is a division of the nervous system that operates viscera, internal organs, smooth muscle and glands. The autonomic nervo ...
,
cardiovascular physiology Cardiovascular physiology is the study of the cardiovascular system, specifically addressing the physiology of the heart ("cardio") and blood vessels ("vascular").
These subjects are sometimes addressed separately, under the names cardiac physiolog ...
, and
multiple system atrophy
Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a rare neurodegenerative disorder characterized by tremors, slow movement, muscle rigidity, postural instability (collectively known as parkinsonism), autonomic dysfunction and ataxia. This is caused by progr ...
.
He edited ''Autonomic Failure: A Textbook of Clinical Disorders of the Autonomic Nervous System'' with C.J. Mathias, a colleague at
St Mary's, as well as five editions of ''Brain and Bannister's Clinical Neurology.''
Bannister always said he was more proud of his contribution to medicine than his running career. In 2014, Bannister said in an interview: "I'd rather be remembered for my work in neurology than my running. If you offered me the chance to make a great breakthrough in the study of the autonomic nerve system, I'd take that over the four minute mile right away. I worked in medicine for sixty years. I ran for about eight."
Personal life
In 1955, Bannister married the Swedish artist Moyra Elver Jacobsson in
Basel
Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
, Switzerland. Moyra Jacobsson-Bannister was the daughter of the Swedish economist
Per Jacobsson, who served as managing director of the
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...
.
They had four children:
Carol E. E. Bannister (b. 1957); Clive C. R. Bannister (b. 1959), an insurance industry executive; Thurstan R. R. Bannister (b. July 1960), a company director in New York; and Charlotte B. M. Bannister (b. 1963), now Charlotte Bannister-Parker, associate priest at the
University Church of St Mary the Virgin
The University Church of St Mary the Virgin (St Mary's or SMV for short) is an Anglican church in Oxford situated on the north side of the High Street. It is the centre from which the University of Oxford grew and its parish consists almost excl ...
in Oxford.
In 2011, Bannister was diagnosed with
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...
.
He died of pneumonia at the
John Radcliffe Hospital
John Radcliffe Hospital (informally known as the JR or the John Radcliffe) is a large tertiary teaching hospital in Oxford, England. It forms part of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is named after John Radcliffe (physician) ...
in Oxford on 3 March 2018, at the age of 88, 20 days before his 89th birthday.
He is buried in
Wolvercote Cemetery near Oxford. His widow, Lady Moyra Bannister, died in Oxford on 4 November 2022, at the age of 94.
Legacy
On the 50th anniversary of running the mile in under four minutes, Bannister was interviewed by the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
's sports correspondent
Rob Bonnet. At the conclusion of the interview, Bannister was asked whether he looked back on the sub-4-minute mile as the most important achievement of his life. Bannister replied that he instead saw his subsequent forty years of practising medicine and some of the new procedures he introduced as being more significant. He also said that, in terms of athletic achievement, he felt his performances at the 1952 Olympics and the 1954 Commonwealth Games were more significant than running the sub-4-minute mile.
Ironically, although Roger Bannister is arguably the most famous record-setter in the mile, he is also the man who held the record for the shortest period of time, at least since the
IAAF
World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...
started to ratify records.
Media
For his efforts, Bannister was also made the inaugural recipient of the ''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
''
Sportsperson of the Year award for 1954 (awarded in January 1955) and is one of the few non-Americans recognised by the American-published magazine as such.
In a UK poll conducted by
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
in 2002, the British public voted Bannister's historic sub-4-minute mile as number 13 in the list of the
100 Greatest Sporting Moments.
Bannister is the subject of the ESPN film ''Four Minutes'' (2005). This film is a dramatisation, its major departures from the factual record being the creation of a fictional character as Bannister's coach, who was actually
Franz Stampfl, an Austrian, and secondly his meeting his wife, Moyra Jacobsson, in the early 1950s when in fact they met in London only a few months before the Miracle Mile itself took place. Bannister was portrayed by
Jamie Maclachlan.
''Bannister: Everest on the Track, The Roger Bannister Story'' is a 2016 TV documentary about his childhood and youth in
WWII
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and postwar Britain and the breaking of the 4-minute mile barrier, with interviews of participants and witnesses to the 1954 race, and later runners inspired by Bannister and his achievement, including
Phil Knight
Philip Hampson Knight (born February 24, 1938) is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist who is the co-founder and chairman ''emeritus'' of Nike, Inc., a global sports equipment and apparel company. He was previously its chai ...
who says that Roger Bannister inspired him to start
Nike.
In the 1988 television mini-series ''
The Four Minute Mile'', about the rivalry between Bannister, John Landy and Wes Santee to be first to break the 4-minute mile mark, Bannister was portrayed by actor
Richard Huw.
Places
In 1996, Pembroke College at the University of Oxford (where Bannister was Master for eight years) named a building in honour of his achievements. The Bannister Building, an 18th-century townhouse in Brewer Street, was converted to provide accommodation for graduate students. Following extensive refurbishments during 2011 and 2012, it became part of the building complex surrounding the Rokos Quad, and was then used for undergraduate accommodation.
In March 2004,
St Mary's Hospital Medical School named a lecture theatre after Bannister; on display is the stopwatch that was used to time the race, stopped at 3:59. Bannister also gave his name to the trophy presented to the winning team in the annual athletics
varsity match between
Imperial College School of Medicine
Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) is the undergraduate medical school of Imperial College London in England and one of the United Hospitals. It is part of the college's Imperial College Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and was ...
and
Imperial College London
Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...
, as well as the award given to the graduating doctor of Imperial College School of Medicine who has achieved most in the sporting community. Bannister also purchased the cup (which bears his name) awarded to the winning team in the annual United Hospitals Cross-Country Championship, organised by
London Universities and Colleges Athletics
London Universities and Colleges Athletics (LUCA) is the representative and governing body for university athletics in London.
LUCA was formed in June 2015 following a merger of the London Colleges League (LCL) and the London Colleges Athletics ...
. The championship is contested by the five medical schools in London and the
Royal Veterinary College
The Royal Veterinary College (informally the RVC) is a veterinary school located in London and a member institution of the federal University of London. The RVC was founded in 1791 and joined the University of London in 1949. It is the oldest an ...
.
In 2012, Bannister carried the Olympic flame at the site of his memorable feat, in the
Oxford University track stadium now named after him.

On 28 September 2021, a memorial stone honouring Sir Roger, "pioneering neurologist, world champion runner", was unveiled in
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...
, in the area known as "Scientists' corner".
Memorabilia
The 50th anniversary of Bannister's achievement was marked by a commemorative British
50-pence coin. The reverse of the coin shows the legs of a runner and a stopwatch (stopped at 3:59.4). There were 9,032,500 minted. The coin was re-struck for collector sets in 2019 as part of the
Royal Mint's '50 Years of the 50p coin', along with other designs.
In the gallery of Pembroke College dining hall, there is a cabinet containing over 80 exhibits covering Bannister's athletic career and including some academic highlights.
Anniversary Races
On 6 May 2024, exactly seventy years after Bannister's sub-four minute mile, hundreds of runners converged in
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
to run a mile in Bannister's honor. The event saw thousands run a "Community Mile", and several races for elite runners on the Iffley Track. In the elite mile, four athletes broke the four minute barrier, with
Italy's Ossama Meslek clocking the fastest mile, at 3:56.15.
This is the second time Iffley Track hosted an anniversary event for Bannister's achievement, with the previous time being in 2004.
Retired, accomplished milers including
Steve Cram,
Hicham El Guerrouj,
Filbert Bayi,
Noureddine Morceli, and
Eamonn Coghlan attended, all of whom have had the
mile world record to their name. Bayi ran 3:51.0 in May 1975, holding the mile world record for three months until August 1975, when
John Walker of
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
ran 3:49.4. Cram ran 3:46.32 in 1985, holding the
mile world record until
Noureddine Morceli of
Algeria
Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
ran 3:44.39 in 1993. Finally, on 7 July 1999, El Guerrouj ran 3:43.13, the current mile world record to this day, which is over sixteen seconds faster than Bannister's 3:59.4. Although not an outdoor record, Coghlan set an indoor mile world record of 3:49.78 in 1983, which was bettered by El Guerrouj in 1997 who ran 3:48.45.
Awards and honours
Bannister received many honours for his achievements in sports and medicine. He was
knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity.
The concept of a knighthood ...
ed in the
1975 New Year Honours, and appointed
Member
Member may refer to:
* Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon
* Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set
* In object-oriented programming, a member of a class
** Field (computer science), entries in ...
of the
Order of the Companions of Honour
The Order of the Companions of Honour is an Order (distinction), order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded on 4 June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements. It was founded on the same date as the Order of the Brit ...
(CH) in the
2017 New Year Honours for services to sport.
Bannister was an
Honorary Fellow of both
Exeter College and
Merton College
Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor ...
, where he studied at the
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
; he was also Honorary Fellow of
Harris Manchester College, Oxford. He received honorary degrees (
Doctor of Science
A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world.
Africa
Algeria and Morocco
In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...
) from the
University of Sheffield
The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...
in 1978, and from the
University of Bath
The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...
in 1984. He also received honorary degrees from the
University of Pavia
The University of Pavia (, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; ) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest un ...
in 1986 and from
Brunel University London
Brunel University of London (BUL) is a Public university, public Research universities, research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian era, Victorian engineer and pione ...
in 2008 (
DUniv), as well as an honorary doctorate from
Oxford Brookes University
Oxford Brookes University (OBU; formerly known as Oxford Polytechnic) is a public university, public university in Oxford, England. It is a new university, having received university status through the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. Th ...
in 2014. In 2000, Bannister received the Golden Plate Award of the
American Academy of Achievement
The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...
.
Bannister was made an
Honorary Freeman of the
London Borough of Harrow
The London Borough of Harrow () is a London boroughs, London borough in northwest London, England; it forms part of Outer London. It borders four other London boroughs London Borough of Barnet, Barnet to the east of ancient Watling Street, Watl ...
on 4 May 2004, and was granted the
Freedom of the City of
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
in 2004.
Selected publications
Autobiography
*
*
*
Academic
*
*
Other media
In 2014, he appeared as a guest on BBC Radio 4's
Midweek
''MidWeek'' is a weekly United States tabloid shopper and advertisement periodical published Wednesday in Honolulu, Hawaii and distributed throughout the Islands of Oahu and Kauai. It is owned by Black Press and is a sister publication of th ...
with
Libby Purves,
Kevin Warwick and
Rachael Stirling.
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
Notes
Further reading
* Bale, John. ''Roger Bannister and the four-minute mile: Sports myth and sports history'' (Routledge, 2012)
excerpt* Bale, John. "Amateurism, Capital and Roger Bannister." ''Sport in History'' 26.3 (2006): 484–501.
* Bannister, Roger (1955), ''The Four-Minute Mile''. Revised and enlarged 50th anniversary (of the race) edition, 2004, The Lyons Press.
*
Bascomb, Neal (2004),
The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It'. .
* Booth, Douglas. "Sport history and the seeds of a postmodern discourse." ''Rethinking History'' 13.2 (2009): 153–174.
* Bourne, Nicholas David. ''Fast science: A history of training theory and methods for elite runners through 1975'' (U of Texas at Austin, 2008)
online* ''The First Four Minutes: ESPN Classic Television Programme''.
* ''The Four Minute Mile'' TV mini-series (1988), available on DVD.
* Cameron, Julia (1993), ''The Artist's Way''. Oxford, London: Pan Books. .
*
* Nelson, Cordner and Quercetani, Roberto (1985), ''The Milers'', Tafnews Press, 1985, , pp. 181–215
* Quercetani, R. L. (1964), ''A World History of Track and Field Athletics, 1864–1964'',
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
. (A history of the mile/1500 m. event.)
External links
*
*
*
*
Newsreel footageof Roger Bannister achieving the four-minute mile
Roger Bannister and the Four-Minute Mile original reports from ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' (archived)
"Bannister triumphs with sub-four minute mile" original report from ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' (from the Guardian archive)
Live TV coverageof the ''"Miracle Mile"''
Multiple System Atrophy Trust website– Bannister was patron of the MSA Trust
Images of Roger Bannisterin the Queen Square Archives (10 images)
Sir Roger Bannister Biography and Interviewby
American Academy of Achievement
The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...
Roger Bannisteron the
History of Modern Biomedicine Research Group website (3 images)
2018 Oxford memorial event
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bannister, Roger
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