Roger Bannister

Roger Bannister, 2009

Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister (23 March 1929 – 3 March 2018) was an English athlete, physician and educator. He is best known for being the first person to run the mile in less than four minutes. Many people thought this was impossible, a natural limit of the human body, until he did it in 1954.

Bannister was born in Harrow, Middlesex. He was the first recipient of the Sports Illustrated "Sportsman of the Year" award in January 1955. He was a neurologist and Master of Pembroke College, Oxford. He retired in 2001.

Bannister was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2011. He died of the disease on 3 March 2018 in Oxford, England at the age of 88.

Quotations

• "We run, not only because we think it is doing us good, but ... because it helps us to do other things better."

• The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.

• "Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle--when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."

Roger Bannister Media

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  Blue plaque at the Paddington Recreation Ground pavilion

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  Roger Bannister winning a race in 1953.

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  Roger Bannister and John Landy at Iffley Road on the 50th anniversary of the four-minute mile 6 May 2004.

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  Blue plaque at Oxford University's Iffley Road Track, recording the first sub-4-minute mile run by Roger Bannister on 6 May 1954

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  The grave of Roger Bannister, Wolvercote Cemetery

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  Bannister with wife Moyra, son Clive and daughter Carol in 1959

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  Memorial stone in Westminster Abbey