ROGER BANNISTER RACE CRACKED

'It became a symbol of attempting a challenge in the physical world of something hitherto thought impossible,' Bannister said as he approached the 50th anniversary of the feat.

The enduring image of the lanky Oxford medical student - head tilted back, eyes closed and mouth agape as he strained across the finishing tape - captured the public's imagination, made him a global celebrity and lifted the spirits of Britons still suffering through postwar austerity.

'It's amazing that more people have climbed Mount Everest than have broken the four-minute mile,' Bannister said in an interview with The Associated Press in 2012. Helped by two pacemakers, Bannister clocked three minutes, 59.4 seconds over four laps at Oxford's Iffley Road track on May 6, 1954, to break the 4-minute mile - a test of speed and endurance that stands as one of the defining sporting achievements of the 20th century. 'He banked his treasure in the hearts of his friends.' He was 'surrounded by his family who were as loved by him, as he was loved by them,' the family said in a statement announcing his death on Sunday. Roger Bannister's shoes sell for over $540K.

VIDEO | Vancouver's four-minute 'Miracle Mile' race.

ROGER BANNISTER RACE CRACKED

He was 88.īannister's family said in a statement that he died peacefully on Saturday in Oxford, the English city where the runner cracked the feat many had thought humanly impossible on a windy afternoon in 1954.īannister, who went on to pursue a long and distinguished medical career, had been slowed by Parkinson's disease in recent years. Roger Bannister, the first runner to break the four-minute barrier in the mile, has died.

Roger bannister race