view raw text
British Star Tops FourMinute Mile Roger Bannister Clocked in 3594 3594Medical Medical Student Lops Two Full Seconds Off Mark Set By Haegg of Sweden in 45 45OXFORD OXFORD England May 6 UP Bar ¬ relchested Roger Gilbert Bannister a blond tarzan of the cinderpaths accom ¬ plished the greatest feat in track and field history when smashed the fourminute mile at historic Ifely Road track today with a 3594 clocking clockingBeating Beating a halfdozen of the worlds great ¬ est runners to the punch in what has amounted to an international crusade the British Olympic flop became the runner of the ages as he clipped two full seconds from the world standard of 4014 hung up by lanky Gunder Haegg of Sweden in 1945 1945Bannister Bannister a 25 yearold medical student who could do no better than a disappoint ¬ ing fourth in the 1952 Olympic 1500meter run the metric mile scorned lowering gray skies and a stiff crosswind as he roared through quarters of 577 607 606 624 and a blazing final lap of 587 587He He had given up running last year when his medical studies suffered But the thick thewed Briton couldnt stay away awaySomebody Somebody will surely clock a fourmin ¬ ute mile one day he said as he began his comeback Who knows it might be meV meVIt It was today as with mouth gasping wide for air face set and sandy hair whip ¬ ping in the wind he streaked through the first quarter in 577 hit the halfmile mark in 1583 and bogged down briefly to reach the threequarters in 3007 3007Runs Runs Last 440 in 587 587But But that last quarter is the one where Bannister always has had a tremendous kick And as the crowd thundered its appeal for a Bannister special the grimfaced man gave it to them a sprinting heart pound 587 for the last 440 yards which shattered the mythical fourminute mile mileThe The wellbuilt Bannister did it against his alma mater Oxford where he once papered the walls of his dormitory room with graphs and charts containing answers to every track problem he was likely to meet Today he was running for the British Amateur Athletic Association against Ox ¬ ford fordHis His teammates gave him help Chris Brasher set the pace for the first two laps with Bannister close on his heels and Chris Chataway right there American George Dole running for Oxford was far back backBrasher Brasher the early pacesetter folded at the half mark and dropped out Thats when Bannister took over but he couldnt coast For Chataway was right on his heels Then as the crowd roared its thunderous appeal Bannister flew down the stretch like a sprinter to smash finally the four minute mile mileNeeds Needs AAU Approval ApprovalThe The mark will of course have to be ap ¬ proved by the British AAU and the Inter ¬ national Amateur Athletic Federation But there seemed no reason to doubt its ac ¬ ceptance and it left a sorely disappointed group of international mile stars who had hoped to be the first to run the magic mile mileThey They included Australias John Landy and Mai Whitfield of the United States both of whom greeted the news with the statement that they werent surprised New Zealands Murray Halberg Briton Gordon Pirie Luxembourgs Josy Barthel and Americas Wes Santee SanteeSome Some of them had come close Swedens Arne Andersson had threatened Haeggs mark with a 4016 mile Landy and Ban ¬ nister himself had run it in 402 while Santee had been clocked in 40262 Bel ¬ giums Gaston Reiff was timed in 4028 in 1952 and Swedens Ingvar Eriksson in 4036 4036Bannister Bannister first broke into prominence as an Oxford freshman Then at the age of 17 he was picked as a thirdstringer for an intra varsity event in 1947 and surprised by Winning He didnt make the 1948 Olympic team but gained acclaim in the United States in 1949 when as a member of the OxfordCambridge team he ran a 4111 mile against a combined team from Prince ¬ ton and Cornell CornellThe The deepchested distance man was a disappointment to his countrymen in the 1950 European championships at Brussels When he could do no better than third in the 800meter run But in 1951 he showed promise again as he defeated two of Ameri ¬ cas best Don Gehrmann and Fred Wilt in the Penn Relay special mile in 4082 4082Britains Britains most publicized runner by this time Bannister had his worst failure in the Olympic metric mile at Helsinki in 1952 finishing a badly beaten fourth From then on most Britons pinned their hopes for the fourminute mile on Pirie Bannister with his studies suffering called it a career briefly last year but then decided on one more efforj f
