The Four Minute Mile

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The Four Minute Mile
Genre Miniseries
Written by David Williamson
Directed by Jim Goddard
Starring Nique Needles and Richard Huw
Country of origin Australia
United Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
Running time180 minutes (90 minutes per part)
Original release
Network ABC
Release13 September (1988-09-13) 
14 September 1988 (1988-09-14)

The Four Minute Mile is a television mini series about the race to run the four-minute mile, focusing on the rivalry between Roger Bannister and John Landy. [1]

Contents

Cast

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Four-minute mile</span> Completion of a mile race in under 4 minutes

A four-minute mile is the completion of a mile run (1.6 km) in four minutes or less. It translates to a speed of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h). It is a standard of professional middle distance runners in several cultures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Bannister</span> English athlete who ran the first sub-4-minute mile (1929–2018)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Empire Stadium (Vancouver)</span> Former sporting venue in British Columbia, Canada

Empire Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium that stood at the Pacific National Exhibition site at Hastings Park in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Track and field and Canadian football, as well as soccer, rugby and musical events, were held at the stadium. The stadium was originally constructed for the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. The stadium hosted both Elvis Presley and The Beatles. It saw most of its use as the home of the BC Lions of the CFL from 1954 to 1982, in which the venue also played host to the first Grey Cup game held west of Ontario in 1955. Empire Stadium also hosted the Grey Cup game in 1958, 1960, 1963, 1966, 1971, and 1974; seven times in total.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Landy</span> Australian athlete and Governor of Victoria (1930–2022)

John Michael Landy 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 and the mile race. He was also the 26th Governor of Victoria from 2001 to 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games</span> Multi-sport event in Vancouver, Canada

The 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Vancouver, British Columbia, from 30 July to 7 August 1954. This was the fifth edition of the event that would eventually become known as the Commonwealth Games, the second post-war Games, the second Canadian Games after the inaugural event in Hamilton and the first event since the name change from British Empire Games took effect in 1952.

George Derek Ibbotson was an English runner who excelled in athletics in the 1950s. His most famous achievement was setting a new world record in the mile in 1957.

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The Roger Bannister running track, also known as the Oxford University track, is a 400-metres athletics running track and stadium in Oxford, England. It was where Sir Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile on 6 May 1954, when it was known as the Iffley Road track. The track is owned and operated by the University of Oxford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres</span>

The men's 1500 metres was an event at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, with the final held on Saturday, December 1, 1956. There were a total number of 37 participants from 22 nations. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Ron Delany of Ireland, the nation's first 1500 metres medal. The silver medalist was Klaus Richtzenhain, the only medalist in the event for the United Team of Germany. John Landy took bronze, Australia's first medal in the event since 1896.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wes Santee</span> American middle-distance runner

David Wesley Santee was an American middle distance runner and athlete who competed mainly in the 1,500 meters and mile events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Hewson</span> British middle-distance runner (1933–2022)

Brian Stanford Hewson was a middle-distance runner who represented Great Britain at the 1956 and 1960 Olympics. He won the gold medal in the 1500 metres at the 1958 European Championships.

<i>The Perfect Mile</i>

The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It (2004) by Neal Bascomb is a non-fiction book about three runners and their attempts to become the first man to run a mile under four minutes and their first subsequent head-to-head competition. The runners are Englishman Roger Bannister, American Wes Santee, and Australian John Landy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games</span> International athletics championship event

At the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, the athletics events were held at Empire Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in July and August 1954. A total of 29 athletics events were contested at the Games, 20 by men and 9 by women. A total of twenty-four Games records were set or improved over the competition, leaving just five previous best marks untouched. The 1954 edition saw the introduction of the shot put and discus throw for women, as well as the first 4×110 yards relay for women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emsley Carr Mile</span> Annual UK running event

The Emsley Carr Mile is an annual invitational athletics running event held in the United Kingdom over one mile for men. The race was won in 2024 by the Australian athlete Olli Hoare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Hulatt</span>

William Thomas Hulatt was an English athlete notable for finishing third behind Sir Christopher Chataway in the historic race in which Sir Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four-minute mile on 6 May 1954. He was from a working-class family and the only runner in the race who was not a university student.

Cornelius Delaney, formerly known as Nique Needles, is an Australian artist, musician and actor.

Andrew William O'Brien was a Canadian sports journalist. O'Brien spent 42 years covering sports for the Montreal Standard, the Montreal Star, and Weekend Magazine, during which he covered 12 Olympic Games, six Commonwealth Games, 45 Stanley Cups, and 31 Grey Cups.

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.

References

  1. Ed. Scott Murray, Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995, Oxford University Press, 1996 p197