Sir Roger Bannister has died aged 88. The first athlete to break the four-minute mile barrier. For those of us Brits alive in the 50s his was a truly inspirational story of guts, determination and willpower, and a sense of national pride in those austere post-war years. I was only two years old at the time, and by the time I was at school a couple of years later Roger Bannister, then retired (no money in amateur athletics back then) was a hero to all of us,
Rich I was nearly four years old when the RB broke the 4 minute mile record and a couple of years later at nearly six I wouldn’t say that RB was my hero or my school friends it was more like Roy Rogers. You must have gone to a proper grown up school at five years old if RB was your hero at that age
True but they did have the Black and White minstrels for the after event show RIP Roger Bannister respect
Very true Jez, Not so surprising in this race, because it was a purely British event in the days before the 1950s and 60s wave of immigration from the Commonwealth. The event was, the AAA (Bannister, Chattaway, Brasher) vs Oxford University at the University track. More revealing was the Empire Games a few months later, when the all white 'Miracle Mile' was run. A fantastic spectacle, even today when the four-minute mile is common place, with Landy and Bannister who had both created sub four minute mile records in the preceding few months. Well worth a watch.
