Their rivalry was the stuff of legend.
Sir Roger Bannister, the first athlete to break the four-minute-mile barrier, died on Saturday aged 88. He is being remembered as a trailblazer who “made the impossible possible” and inspired generations of British people to take up sport.
But Bannister’s story is inextricably linked with an Australian, John Landy, the second man to run the mile in under four minutes.
Roger Bannister, a gentleman who almost didn’t run race that defined him
Read more
Once deemed impossible, by 1954 it appeared certain the elusive four-minute barrier would be broken. Bannister, Landy and another runner, the American Wes Santee, all appeared close to the mark.
