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THE SUPREME EXTREME: THE FIRST SUB-4:00 MILE

Barrier is an odd word. Over 40 years, many athletes tried to break the 4:00 mile barrier. Throughout the 20's, 30's, 40's, and early 50's, many athletes tried, achieving times like 4:10, 4:03, and 4:01. But many athletes had run sub-60 for 400 meters, a quarter-mile. Then in 1954, Oxford medical student Roger Bannister reasoned that if he could run four sub-60 400s in practice, he could patch them together in a race. After months of rigorous training, he could run four 51-second 400s. And so he did, on March 6, 1954. The coverage of the story is thorough, but the page is poorly designed. You might want to turn off backgrounds and colors before you view it.

Mon, 04 Sep 2000 23:37:28 -0700

Submitted by: Jay Wind