A four-minute mile is the completion of a mile run in four minutes or less. It was first achieved in 1954 by Roger Bannister, at age 25, in 3:59.4. As of April 2021, the "four-minute barrier" has been broken by 1,663 athletes, and is now a standard of professional middle distance runners in several cultures. In the 65 years since, the mile record has been lowered by almost 17 seconds, and currently stands at 3:43.13, by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco, at age 24, in 1999. Running a mile in four minutes translates to a speed of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h).
Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister was an English neurologist and middle-distance athlete who ran the first sub-4-minute mile.
The world record in the mile run is the fastest time set by a runner in the middle-distance track and field event. World Athletics is the official body which oversees the records. Hicham El Guerrouj is the current men's record holder with his time of 3:43.13, while Sifan Hassan has the women's record of 4:12.33. Since 1976, the mile has been the only non-metric distance recognized by the IAAF for record purposes.
John Michael Landy OLY 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.
The 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Vancouver, British Columbia, from 30 July to 7 August 1954. These were the first games since the name change from British Empire Games took effect in 1952.
Miracle Mile may refer to:
Gunder Hägg was a Swedish runner and multiple world record breaker of the 1940s. He set over a dozen middle distance world records at events ranging from 1500 to 5000 meters, including three at both the 1500 meters and the mile, one at 3000 meters and one at 5000 meters.
Canada has participated in every Commonwealth Games since the first ever British Empire Games held in Hamilton, Ontario in 1930, one of only six countries to have done so. The others are Australia, England, New Zealand, Scotland, and Wales.
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.
The men's 1,500 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.
David Wesley Santee was an American middle distance runner and athlete who competed mainly in the 1,500 meters and mile events.
Rosamund Margaret Dashwood was one of the top female masters runners in Canadian history.
Brian Stanford Hewson is a retired 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.
Franz Ferdinand Leopold Stampfl MBE was one of the world's leading athletics coaches in the twentieth century. He pioneered a scientific system of Interval Training which became very popular with sprint and middle distance athletes. His most striking success was the world's first sub-four minute mile by Roger Bannister in 1954. Stampfl was posthumously awarded the World Athletics Heritage Plaque as a "legendary and pioneering coach" on 26 September 2019.
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.
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 2022 by the British athlete Matthew Stonier.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to running:
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.
Kutawikucu Resaru, better known as Hawk Chief (1853–1895), was a Pawnee Scout for the United States Army. He is best known for running the first sub-four minute mile during his time in service. His run is not largely chronicled, because many believe the credit for the historic first sub-four mile belongs to another man. Hawk Chief was a citizen of the Pawnee Nation, and served in the Plains Indian Wars as a Pawnee Scout. His legacy as "the fastest man alive" is one shrouded in controversy despite first hand accounts of his run.
