It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle-when the sun comes up, you'd better be running. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help. Sport, like all life, is about taking risks. Sport is not about being wrapped up in cotton wool. "Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. If I faltered, there would be no arms to hold me and the world would be a cold and forbidding place.The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.because it helps us to do other things better." "We run, not only because we think it is doing us good, but.He died of the disease on 3 March 2018 in Oxford, England at the age of 88. He retired in 2001.īannister was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2011. He was a neurologist and Master of Pembroke College, Oxford. ![]() He was the first recipient of the Sports Illustrated "Sportsman of the Year" award in January 1955. Many people thought this was impossible, a natural limit of the human body, until he did it in 1954. He is best known for being the first person to run the mile in less than four minutes. He had helped shift the entire paradigm through which other runners viewed the world and in turn helped redefine what the human body could achieve.Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister CH CBE (23 March 1929 – 3 March 2018) was an English athlete, physician and educator. In a style that ramped up the anticipation and excitement and would later become a trademark during the countless record attempts he presided over, McWhirter gave a long pause as he delivered the race result.Īs he began announcing Bannister’s finishing time, he was rendered inaudible by the ecstatic crowd, which erupted upon hearing the word “three”, covering up confirmation that the winning time was 3:59:04 and history had been made.Īs is so often the case with world records, once Bannister proved a human could in fact run a mile under four minutes, it left the world stunned, and helped shatter a collective mental barrier.Īustralian John Landy bettered the Iffley Road record the following month with a time of 3 minutes 57.9 seconds, while in the three years that followed that historic day in Oxford, a further 15 runners would go on to also perform the same feat.īannister had changed the expectation of possibilities through the achievement of his high goal. Thus, when I got up from the track after collapsing at the finish line, I figured I was dead.” When remembering the end of the race, Bannister says: “Doctors and scientists said that breaking the four-minute mile was impossible, that one would die in the attempt. He would go on to introduce the race’s timekeeper and old university friend, Norris McWhirter, to the brewery’s owner, Sir Hugh Beaver, recommending him and his brother Ross as editors for the company’s new publication – a book that would compile superlatives to help settle pub arguments. Roger Bannister > Quotes > Quotable Quote () The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win. The scene for Bannister’s finest moment was an early race in the 1954 season at Oxford University’s ramshackle Iffley Road track, during the annual match between the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA) and the university.Īlongside Bannister, the two other principal runners involved for the AAA were his friends Chris Chataway and Chris Brasher, with the attempt carefully planned between the three.Ĭhataway was an underbrewer at the Guinness Brewery in Park Royal, London. Quote by Roger Bannister: The man who can drive himself further once the. Inspired by his running hero Sydney Wooderson, who had made a remarkable comeback in 1945 by setting a new British record in the same event, Bannister set out to achieve the holy grail of athletics. The following months saw Bannister toying with the idea of giving up athletics, before he decided to set himself a new goal of becoming the First man to run a mile in under four minutes. Born in Harrow, England, the then 25-year-old Oxford University medical student was regarded as Britain’s best middle-distance runner, but had recently experienced crushing disappointment after finishing fourth in the 1500 metres at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki – a race he had been widely expected to win.
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