Of all the world records, the sub 4 minute mile is possibly one of the most famous. This video clip shows how it has progressed over the years...
3:59.4...Roger Bannister United Kingdom 6 May 1954 Oxford
3:58.0...John Landy Australia 21 June 1954 Turku
3:57.2...Derek Ibbotson United Kingdom 19 July 1957 London
3:54.5...Herb Elliott Australia 6 August 1958 Santry, Dublin
3:54.4...Peter Snell New Zealand 27 January 1962 Wanganui
3:54.1...Peter Snell New Zealand 17 November 1964 Auckland
3:53.6...Michel Jazy France 9 June 1965 Rennes
3:51.3...Jim Ryun United States 17 July 1966 Berkeley, Cal.
3:51.1...Jim Ryun United States 23 June 1967 Bakersfield, Cal.
3:51.0...Filbert Bayi Tanzania 17 May 1975 Kingston
3:49.4...John Walker New Zealand 12 August 1975 Göteborg
3:49.0...Sebastian Coe United Kingdom 17 July 1979 Oslo
3:48.8...Steve Ovett United Kingdom 1 July 1980 Oslo
3:48.53...Sebastian Coe United Kingdom 19 August 1981 Zürich
3:48.40...Steve Ovett United Kingdom 26 August 1981 Koblenz
3:47.33...Sebastian Coe United Kingdom 28 August 1981 Bruxelles
3:46.32...Steve Cram United Kingdom 27 July 1985 Oslo
3:44.39...Noureddine Morceli Algeria 5 September 1993 Rieti
3:43.13...Hicham El Guerrouj Morocco 7 July 1999 Rome
What a nine days at the end of August 1981! It was brilliant stuff between Coe and Ovett.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that the record has not been touched for over 13 years !!! Is this like some of the road race records around here ????
ReplyDeleteThe mile is an unusual race as in it's not metric and not an Olympic event. Most of the mile races as a result tend to be in the USA or the UK.
ReplyDeleteThe current record holder of the mile, Hicham El Guerrouj is also the current record holder of the 1500m. He ran 3:26.00 back in July 1998 and it has never been broken since.