by Matthew Heiserman
Staff Writer
Breaking four minutes in the mile is the most iconic milestone in all of mid-distance running. However, it wasn’t until May 6, 1954, when Roger Bannister, a 25-year-old student at St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London, became the first human to attain the coveted achievement. With around 3,000 spectators in attendance at the Iffley Road Track in Oxford, Bannister crossed the finish line in a time of 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds, forever cementing his name in the history books.
In fact, Bannister wasn’t even sure he’d be attempting the record on that day. It was a very rainy day, and right before the race began, wind speeds got up to 25 miles per hour. However, the wind speeds dropped right before they were set to run, and Bannister made the decision to follow through on his scheduled attempt.
During Bannister’s record attempt, he was assisted by pacers Chris Brasher and Chris Chataway. Brasher led the pack for the first two laps, allowing Bannister to split 1:58 through half a mile. Chataway then took over for the third lap. With around 300 yards left in the race, Bannister surged past Chataway, sprinting out the rest of the race by himself. He closed with a final lap time of 58.7 seconds!
For decades, athletes, doctors, and coaches were convinced that a sub-four-minute mile was impossible. They believed that the human lungs would never be able to sustain that speed for so long, and it was too dangerous. In 1945, Swedish runner Gunder Hägg ran a 4:01.4 mile, which was the world record at the time. Many people quickly lost hope that the record would ever be broken again, and it took a while before Bannister finally earned the crown nearly a decade later.
However, it didn’t take another nine years for Bannister’s world record to be broken again. In fact, just 93 days later on August 7, Bannister ran another sub-four-minute mile, clocking a new personal best of 3 minutes and 58.8 seconds. This race, known as the “Miracle Mile”, took place at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, Canada. Bannister was able to beat out John Landy, who also ran under four minutes, in a very close finish. This marked the first time in track history that two people ran a sub-four-minute mile in the same race!
Bannister’s victory at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games would be one of his final competitive races. After the 1500 meter final at the European Athletics Championships in Berne, Switzerland, on August 29, 1954, Bannister officially retired to pursue neurology. He ended up having a 60-year medical career, and later stated in an interview, “I’d rather be remembered for my work in neurology than my running.”
Nowadays, a sub-four-minute mile, despite still being extremely rare, is an achievement held by more than 2,000 runners according to various databases that track the distance. The current world record belongs to Josh Kerr of Great Britain, who ran a time of 3:42.66 at the London Diamond League on July 18, 2026. There have also been five high schoolers who broke the sub-four-minute barrier in 2026 alone.
