Athletics at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games – Men's 1 mile

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Men's 1 mile
at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
Venue Empire Stadium
Start date6 August 1954 (1954-08-06)
End date7 August 1954 (1954-08-07)
Winning time3:58.8
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg   Flag of England.svg  England
Silver medal icon.svg   Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
Bronze medal icon.svg   Flag of Canada (1921-1957).svg  Canada
  1950
1958  
Bannister and Landy battle it out.
Attribution:Province newspaper 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, Landy and Bannister 1 mile race 7 Aug.png
Bannister and Landy battle it out.
Attribution:Province newspaper
Medallists left to right - Landy, Bannister, Halberg.
Attribution:Province newspaper 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, 1 mile medallists Landy, Bannister, Halberg.png
Medallists left to right - Landy, Bannister, Halberg.
Attribution:Province newspaper

The men's 1 mile event at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games was held on 6 and 7 August at the Empire Stadium in Vancouver, Canada. [1]

Contents

The final race – dubbed The Miracle Mile – represented a landmark in the history of the Four-minute mile. Roger Bannister had been the first to have broken the barrier earlier that year, but John Landy followed soon after with sub-4 minute (and world record time of 3:58.0) of his own. The games offered the first time that two sub-4 minute runners had duelled against each other. Landy led until the final curve, at which point he turned left to gauge Bannister's position. Bannister took the opportunity to overtake him on his blind side and he edged out a victory over Landy with a time of 3:58.8 minutes. Landy also ran under four minutes, representing the first time two men had done so in the same race. [2] A sculpture of the race-deciding moment was later placed outside the stadium in memory of the duel.

Medalists

GoldSilverBronze
Roger Bannister
Flag of England.svg  England
John Landy
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
Rich Ferguson
Canadian Red Ensign (1921-1957).svg Canada

Results

Heats

A sculpture commemorating the Miracle mile Bannister and Landy.jpg
A sculpture commemorating the Miracle mile

Qualification: First 4 in each heat (Q) qualify directly for the final. [3]

RankHeatNameNationalityTimeNotes
11 Murray Halberg Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 4:07.4Q, GR
21 Rich Ferguson Canadian Red Ensign (1921-1957).svg Canada 4:07.8Q
31 Roger Bannister Flag of England.svg  England 4:08.4Q
41 David Law Flag of England.svg  England 4:08.6Q
51 John Disley Flag of Wales (1953-1959).svg Wales 4:09.0
61 Don MacMillan Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 4:11.6
71 John Moule Canadian Red Ensign (1921-1957).svg Canada 4:17.2
1 Edwin Warren Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia DNF
1 James Daly Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand DNF
12 Bill Baillie Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 4:11.4Q
22 Victor Milligan Ulster Banner.svg  Northern Ireland 4:11.4Q
32 John Landy Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 4:11.4Q
42 Ian Boyd Flag of England.svg  England 4:11.6Q
52 Bill Parnell Canadian Red Ensign (1921-1957).svg Canada 4:13.8
62 Chris Brasher Flag of England.svg  England 4:15.4
72 Edward Morton Canadian Red Ensign (1921-1957).svg Canada 4:23.2
2 Jim Bailey Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia DNS

Final

[4] [5]

RankNameNationalityTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Roger Bannister Flag of England.svg  England 3:58.8 GR
Silver medal icon.svg John Landy Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 3:59.6
Bronze medal icon.svg Rich Ferguson Canadian Red Ensign (1921-1957).svg Canada 4:04.6
4 Victor Milligan Ulster Banner.svg  Northern Ireland 4:05.0
5 Murray Halberg Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 4:07.2
6 Ian Boyd Flag of England.svg  England 4:07.2
7 Bill Baillie Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 4:11.0
David Law Flag of England.svg  England DNF

References

  1. "Results". thecgf.com. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  2. Bryant, John (2005). 3:59.4: The Quest to Break the Four Minute Mile. Arrow Books Ltd. ISBN   978-0-09-946908-7.
  3. "Wilmshurst's long jump record". The Manchester Guardian. 7 August 1954. p. 2. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  4. "Final results". The Manchester Guardian. 9 August 1954. p. 6. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  5. "Final results". The Sydney Morning Herald. 9 August 1954. p. 9. Retrieved 27 September 2020.