User:Ostrichyearning3/rb
British athlete who ran the first sub-4-minute mile / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister CH CBE FRCP (23 March 1929 – 3 March 2018) was a British middle-distance athlete and neurologist who ran the first sub-4-minute mile.
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Full name | Roger Gilbert Bannister | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | British | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | (1929-03-23)23 March 1929 Harrow, England[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 3 March 2018(2018-03-03) (aged 88) Oxford, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 187 cm (6 ft 2 in)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 70 kg (154 lb)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Country | Great Britain | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Athletics/Track, Middle-distance running | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Event(s) | Mile, 800 metres, 1500 metres | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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At the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Bannister set a British record in the 1500 metres 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, with Chris Chataway and Chris Brasher providing the pacing. He had attained this record on relatively minimal training, while practising as a junior doctor. Bannister's record lasted just 46 days before it was broken by John Landy.
Bannister went on to become a neurologist and Master of Pembroke College, Oxford, before retiring in 1993. As Master of Pembroke, he was on the governing body of Abingdon School from 1986 to 1993.[3] 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 in 2011.[4]