R.I.P. Sir Roger Bannister

[Laphroaig]

Sir Roger Bannister, the first person to run a mile in under four minutes, has died at the age of 88.

His time of three minutes 59.4 seconds, set at Iffley Road sports ground in Oxford on 6 May 1954, stood as a record for just 46 days but his place in athletics history was assured.

Bannister also won gold over the same distance at the 1954 Commonwealth Games and later became a leading neurologist.

He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2011.

A statement from his family said: "Sir Roger Bannister, died peacefully in Oxford on 3 March, aged 88, surrounded by his family who were as loved by him, as he was loved by them.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/43273249

[septemberboy]

The pic shows Bannister with (left) the serious-looking guy who initiated the annual London Marathon event and a cocky-looking guy (right) who became a Conservative MP...

[Stavros]

A great achievement at the time, though for some along with the Conquest of Everest and the ascendancy of a young Elizabeth to the Throne perhaps the last great moment of the British Empire, as in 'those were the days'! I used to pass the Iffley Road ground every day, still do sometimes as I have a friend who lives close by, and can imagine what it was like on that grey day in 1954.

Unfortunately, Bannister believed science could explain why Black athletes excel at sprint and marathon running, using concepts such as 'muscle fibre' and the notorious 'slave gene' to explain it (see link below). But when even he admitted that genes might not be the sole explanation, as here-

Sir Roger said yesterday that anatomy on its own is less important than might be thought in sporting success. "Linford Christie has a superb muscular development, compared with the slenderer Carl Lewis, whom he displaced but who achieved a greater record than Christie in winning three gold medals in the same Olympics - the 100m, 200m and the long jump
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/ba...n-1600940.html

He could have, but did not add in as a factor in success, 'performance enhancing drugs'.

Roger Bannister, a great middle distance runner, a not so so great middle distance thinker.

http://www.macleans.ca/society/race-...s-controversy/