How many men have broken the 4-minute mile record?
Since Bannister’s historic run 60 years ago, only 1,300 men have broken the 4-minute barrier. The current world record for the mile, held by Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj since 1999, is 3:43.
Who was the first person to break 4 minutes in the mile?
Algeria's Noureddine Morceli was the first under 3:45. Currently, the mile record is held by Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj, who ran a time of 3:43.13 in Rome in 1999. In 1964, America's Jim Ryun became the first high-school runner to break four minutes for the mile, running 3:59.0 as a junior and a then American record 3:55.3 as a senior in 1965.
Where did Bannister break the 4 minute mile record?
Oxford University's Iffley Road Track where Bannister broke the four-minute mile barrier. ... In 1964, America's Jim Ryun became the first high-school runner to break four minutes for the mile, running 3:59.0 as a junior and a then American record 3:55.3 as a senior in 1965.
What is the best book to break the 4 minute mile?
Bryant, John (2004). 3:59.4 The Quest To Break The Four Minute Mile. Hutchinson. ISBN 978-0-09-180033-8. Nelson, Cordner; Quercetani, Roberto (1985). The Milers. Tafnews Press. ISBN 0-911521-15-1. Phillips, Bob (2004). 3:59.4 The Quest for the Four-Minute Mile.
Has anyone broken the 4-minute mile?
In Oxford, England, 25-year-old medical student Roger Bannister cracks track and field's most notorious barrier: the four-minute mile. Bannister, who was running for the Amateur Athletic Association against his alma mater, Oxford University, won the mile race with a time of 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds.
How many high schoolers have broken the 4-minute mile?
Sixteen U.S. high school students have run the mile in less than four minutes since 1964.
Why was the 4-minute mile considered impossible?
According to legend, experts said for years that the human body was simply not capable of a 4-minute mile. It wasn't just dangerous; it was impossible. Further legends hold that people had tried for over a thousand years to break the barrier, even tying bulls behind them to increase the incentive to do the impossible.
Can a normal person run a 4-minute mile?
Although a man of 40 years of age, Eamonn Coghlan, has run a mile in under four minutes, achieving this feat is still a major accomplishment denied to tens of thousands of other athletes. First breaks into this domain have been unexpectedly spectacular.
How fast can Bolt run a mile?
Three minutes, forty-three seconds, and thirteen hundredths of a second is the fastest that a human has ever run a mile, as far as we know.
How fast did Jim Ryan run the mile?
World recordsDistanceTimeDate880 yards (indoor)1:48.319671,500 meters3:33.1July 8, 1967One Mile3:51.3July 17, 1966One Mile3:51.1June 23, 19672 more rows
Has a woman broken the 4-minute mile?
Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco set the current world record of 3:43.13 on July 7, 1999. El Geurrouj, now retired from competitive running, holds seven of the top 10 times for the men's mile. The current women's record for the mile, 4:12.56 run by Svetlana Masterkova of Russia, is even longer standing, dating to 1996.
Who was the second person to break the 4-minute mile?
Australian John LandyAustralian John Landy, the second man to break the four-minute barrier in the mile, has died at age 91, according to Australia's track and field federation. Australian media reported that Landy had a long battle with Parkinson's disease.
How many sub 4-minute milers are there?
We track the number of sub-4 American milers. We celebrate when a high schooler breaks 4 – a small club that has nevertheless more than doubled recently, increasing from 5 to 13 in the last decade.
How rare is a 4 minute mile?
Only 1,497 humans have ever broken the 4-minute mile — and I'm one of them. There are few events in the sport of track and field that people understand like the mile. Even people who know very little about track, know that it takes an extraordinary effort to break four minutes over the 1,609-metre race.
How impressive is a 4 minute mile?
The 4 minute mile is really only a 3 lap race, because the final lap turns into a sprint, no matter what happens during the first 3 laps. Knowing this it is common for runners during the last lap to produce their fastest 400m split of the event.
Is a 3 minute mile possible?
Common wisdom and scientific knowledge perceived a sub-four-minute mile to be an insurmountable barrier until Sir Roger Bannister set a world record time of 3min 59.4sec in 1954. Since then, a new world record has been set 18 times, the current record of 3:43.13 being clocked in 1999.
Who ran the 4 minute mile in 2017?
Hunter achieved the 4-minute mile mark outdoors later in the season at the Prefontaine Classic. At that same meet Michael Slagowski ran his second sub-4-minute of the season. Reed Brown dipped under the barrier on 1 June 2017, running the 4th fastest high school mile time ever recorded in a race: 3:59.30.
Who was the first person to run a 4 minute mile?
Blue plaque recording the first ever sub-four-minute mile run by Roger Bannister on 6 May 1954 at Oxford University's Iffley Road Track. A four-minute mile is the completion of a mile run (1.6 km) in four minutes or less. It was first achieved in 1954 by Roger Bannister, at age 25, in 3:59.4. The "four-minute barrier" has since been broken by ...
How long did it take to run a mile?
On 10 October 1796, The Sporting Magazine reported that a young man called Weller, who was one of three brothers, "undertook for a wager of three guineas to run one mile on the Banbury Road, in four minutes, which he performed two seconds within the time." This is equivalent to £312 in 2019 yet about 5 months' a typical rural labourer's pay then. By the late 1700s, a mile could be routinely measured to within a few inches; watches, thanks to John Harrison, could measure 4 minutes to within 0.0009 sec (i.e. gain or lose 10 seconds a month), and after about 1750 the mass production of highly accurate watches was well underway.
How fast is a mile?
Running a mile in four minutes translates to a speed of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h).
Who played John Landy in the 4 minute mile?
In 1988, the ABC and the BBC co-produced The Four Minute Mile, a miniseries dramatization of the race to the four-minute mile, featuring Richard Huw as Bannister and Nique Needles as John Landy (who was simultaneously pursuing the milestone). It was written by David Williamson and directed by Jim Goddard.
When was the 4 minute barrier first broken?
Breaking the four-minute barrier was first achieved on 6 May 1954 at Oxford University's Iffley Road Track, by British athlete Roger Bannister, with the help of fellow-runners Chris Chataway and Chris Brasher as pacemakers.
Who broke the 4 minute barrier?
Record holders. Breaking the four-minute barrier was first achieved on 6 May 1954 at Oxford University's Iffley Road Track, by British athlete Roger Bannister , with the help of fellow-runners Chris Chataway and Chris Brasher as pacemakers.
Who set the world record for the longest mile?
The world record for a mile was 4 minutes and 1.3 seconds, set by Gunder Hagg of Sweden in 1945. Despite, or perhaps because of, the psychological mystique surrounding the four-minute barrier, several runners in the early 1950s dedicated themselves to being the first to cross into the three-minute zone. Roger Bannister, born in Harrow, England, in ...
How long did it take to run the 3 quarter mile?
For the first half-mile, Brasher led the field, with Bannister close behind, and then another runner took up the lead and reached the three-quarter-mile mark in 3 minutes 0.4 seconds, with Bannister at 3 minutes 0.7 seconds.
How long did it take for a Bannister to break the record?
Thereafter, Bannister threw in all his reserves and broke the tape in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds.
Who won the British and Empire Championships in the mile run?
Bannister went on to win British and Empire championships in the mile run, and the European title in the 1,500-meter event in 1954. At the end of the year, Bannister retired from athletic competition to pursue his medical career full time and in 1955 recounted his experiences in the book The Four Minute Mile.
Who won the mile race in Oxford?
In Oxford, England, 25-year-old medical student Roger Bannister cracks track and field’s most notorious barrier: the four-minute mile. Bannister, who was running for the Amateur Athletic Association against his alma mater, Oxford University, won the mile race with a time of 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds.
Who was the first person to run a mile?
The sad news of the passing of Roger Bannister, the first human being to run a four-minute mile, is an opportunity to think about his legacy — not just as one of the great athletes of the past century, but as an innovator, a change agent, and an icon of... The sad news of the passing of Roger Bannister, the first human being to run ...
How long did it take John Landy to break the 4 minute barrier?
Just 46 days Bannister’s feat, John Landy, an Australian runner, not only broke the barrier again, with a time of 3 minutes 58 seconds. Then, just a year later, three runners broke the four-minute barrier in a single race.
How many runners have conquered a barrier that had once been considered hopelessly out of reach?
Over the last half century, more than a thousand runners have conquered a barrier that had once been considered hopelessly out of reach. Well, what goes for runners goes for leaders running organizations. In business, progress does not move in straight lines.
How long was Roger Bannister's time?
Most people know the basic story of Roger Bannister, who, on May 6, 1954, busted through the four-minute barrier with a time of three minutes, fifty-nine and four-tenths of a second.
Who holds the world record for the mile?
The current world record for the mile, held by Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj since 1999, is 3:43.
Who was the first person to run a mile in less than 4 minutes?
Look back at the day 60 years ago when British medical student Roger Bannister became the first man to run a mile in less than 4 minutes. Roger Bannister wavered like the notoriously fickle English weather with every hard gust that blew across Oxford’s Iffley Road track on the evening of May 6, 1954. From the moment he had left his London flat that ...
How fast was the first lap of the quarter mile?
“Faster!”. Bannister commanded his pacemaker, who ignored the order and kept his steady gait as they completed the first lap of the quarter-mile oval in 57.5 seconds and reached the halfway point in 1:58. Chataway now took to the lead, but the pace slowed.
How long did it take Bannister to finish the third lap?
Chataway now took to the lead, but the pace slowed. Bannister completed the third lap in 3:00.7 and needed to post a 59-second final lap to make history. With 300 yards to go, Bannister began his kick. “Impelled by a combination of fear and pride,” he breathed in the encouragement of the crowd.
When was the 4 minute mile first run?
This is a list of American high school students who have run a four-minute mile since the feat was first accomplished in 1964 .
Who is the youngest person to run a mile in 4 minutes?
The youngest runner to ever run an official four-minute mile is Norwegian runner Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who ran 3:58.07 at the Prefontaine Classic in May 2017, when he was 16 years and 250 days old.
Who is the youngest miler?
Jim Ryun. After setting the national high school record in the mile, Jim Ryun set the world record in 1966 and then again in 1967, when he ran 3:51.1. Ryun was 19 at the time, making him the youngest world record holder in the mile to date. His record stood for nine years.
When is the American Track League Invitational 2021?
February 7, 2021. American Track League Invitational. Fayetteville, Arkansas. Note: all of the above runners were high school seniors when they ran under four minutes for the mile except for Ryun in 1964, who was a junior at the time.
Overview
A four-minute mile is the completion of a mile run (1609.34m) 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, an…
Record holders
Breaking the four-minute barrier was first achieved on 6 May 1954 at Oxford University's Iffley Road Track, by British athlete Roger Bannister, with the help of fellow-runners Chris Chataway and Chris Brasher as pacemakers.
Two months later, during the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games hosted in Vancouver, B.C., two competing runners, Australia's John Landy and B…
Possible other claims
A number of people have claimed to have beaten the four-minute mile before Bannister.
Some (notably Olympic medallist Peter Radford) contend the first successful four-minute mile was run by James Parrott on 9 May 1770. He ran the 1-mile, west-to-east, length of Old Street to finish somewhere within the grounds/building of Shoreditch Church. Timing methods at this time were—after the invention of the chronometer by John Harrison—accurate enough to measure the …
In popular culture
In 1955, Putnam & Co. Ltd. published Roger Bannister's account of the events in The First Four Minutes. This was later adapted as "The Four-Minute Mile" by The Reader's Digest Association, Ltd. in 1958.
In the 17 November 1956 Season 2 Episode 26 Whole No. 65 of Science Fiction Theatre entitled "Three Minute Mile", a scientist (Marshall Thompson) attempts to create a super athlete (Martin …
See also
• Mile run
• Mile run world record progression
• Dream Mile
• 10-second barrier
• The two-hour marathon, a similar barrier that was broken in 2019 by Eliud Kipchoge as part of the Ineos 1:59 Challenge
Further reading
• Bannister, Roger (1955). The First Four Minutes. Putnam.
• Bascomb, Neil (2004). The Perfect Mile. Willow. ISBN 978-0-00-717373-0.
• Bryant, John (2004). 3:59.4 The Quest To Break The Four Minute Mile. Hutchinson. ISBN 978-0-09-180033-8.
External links
• Roger Bannister and the Four-Minute Mile Original reports from The Times
• Forbes magazine declared four-minute mile as "greatest athletic achievement"
• The Four Minute Mile at IMDb
• Four Minutes at IMDb