History of the Four-Minute Mile

Practiced by the ancient Greeks, track and field is one of the world's oldest sports. During the early 20th century, however, one aspect of track and field -- running a mile in under four minutes -- became the focus of competition, achieving almost mythological status, according to Josh Kunkel of Manchester College. This battle to run the four-minute mile has a long and varied history, dating back almost 300 years.

  1. 18th Century

    • Although they have never received formal recognition, there were runners in the 18th century that reported running a mile in four minutes. According to the sports historian Peter Radford, the first man to run a mile in four minutes was James Parrott, a costermonger from London, in 1770. Parrott was followed by a runner named Powell, who ran the mile naked in 1787. The runs were measured using a watch that timed the mile to an accuracy of 0.0002 seconds.

    Victorian Era

    • During the 19th century there were important developments that influenced the history of the four-minute mile. In the 1880s, the formation of the British Amateur Athletic Association and the American Athletic Union created two new governing bodies for anyone who wished to compete in track and field. This excluded competitors, like James Parrott, who ran for money. According to Peter Radford, 18th century officials dismissed any previous performances of the four-minute mile as "clearly nonsense."

    World War II

    • During World War II, American and European hopes of running the four-minute mile were put on hold. As more and more men were called up to fight, the Olympics and British Commonwealth Games were cancelled Only in the neutral country of Sweden did competition take place. During the war, the Swedish athlete, Gunder Hagg, set a time of four-minutes and one second for running the mile and this record would stand until the 1950s.

    1950s

    • The 1950s were full of attempts to break the four-minute mile, with two runners, Roger Bannister and John Landy, at the head of the race. In 1954, the British medical student Roger Bannister ran the mile in three minutes and 59.4 seconds in Oxford, smashing all previous official records. In the following month, however, the Australian runner John Landy beat Bannister's record with a time of three minutes and 57.9 seconds. Roger Bannister was knighted for his achievement in 1975.