the mile of the century

August 7, 2004 8:38 AM

the mile of the century Fifty years ago today, Roger Bannister, the first man to break the 4-minute mile, and John Landy, who beat his record a month-and-a-half later, squared off in Vancouver BC to determine who was the fastest runner in the history of the world, in what is arguably the most dramatic sporting event of the 20th Century. The record for the mile has gone down astonishingly through the years, but are there limits on how low it can go? (View video of the historic Bannister vs. Landy matchup here.
posted by F4B2 (11 comments total)

Full disclosure: I live in Vancouver, and my father was a photographer for the Vancouver Sun at the time, and associate of Charlie Warner, the photographer who captured the dramatic photo of Landy looking over his shoulder as Bannister passes him in the final seconds of the race. I couldn't find the photo online, but a painting of the photograph is here.
posted by F4B2 at 8:42 AM on August 7, 2004

Disagree re drama. 1989 Lemond v. Fignon Tour de France beats this, easily. In fact, almost any NY Mets post-season win beats this. Running is boring.
posted by ParisParamus at 8:50 AM on August 7, 2004

I called this event "arguably the most dramatic sporting event of the 20th Century" to spur interest in the post, and because it is. I'm not sure if I want the post to be diverted into a thread about what the most dramatic sporting event is, or if I'd prefer it to focus on comments about the event itself, and how much lower the 4-minute mile record can go. I guess we'll see.

But any discussion of other dramatic sporting events still doesn't take away from the fact today is the 50th Anniversary of this exciting matchup between the first 2 men to break the psychological & physical barrier of the 4-minute mile (much of the drama of the event is in the background that for years, physiologists etc said it was impossible to break the 4-minute mile. Other exciting sporting events don't have this background.

It would be like Hillary summitting Everest (a feat thought near impossible at the time) in a certain time, then someone else beating this record a month later, then the 2 racing at the same time to see who is the first up Everest a few months later.
posted by F4B2 at 9:02 AM on August 7, 2004

Oh, and Hillary and competitor being neck-and-neck just reaching the summit, the competitor looking over his shoulder to see where Hillary is, just as Hillary passes him to the summit.

(PS I didn't mean in last post to say this IS the most dramatic sporting event... I was emphasisizing that it "ARGUABLY is." Thanks.
posted by F4B2 at 9:04 AM on August 7, 2004

That actually was a bit snarky of me--I apologize.

What is kind of interesting as a tangent is whether my current apathy for track and field, and the Olympics in general is primarily me, or part of a larger wave of apathy. Like, is anyone really going to stay glued to the Athens Games?
posted by ParisParamus at 9:19 AM on August 7, 2004

F4b2 - Good post. That "limits" article reads like a dream. Though it's ironic reading about people breaking the 4 minute barrier, when I'm trying to break the 6 minute barrier myself :-( Note to self: Be born in east African desert in next life.)
posted by Happydaz at 9:27 AM on August 7, 2004

Great video clip. As someone who has done more running in the last few years, it amazes me to see the adrenaline and crowd response to historic races. What a rush!
posted by bullitt 5 at 9:28 AM on August 7, 2004

FWIW - I met Bannister about ten or fifteen years back. Didn't speak much to him, but he struck me as a very nice fellow.
posted by filmgeek at 12:26 PM on August 7, 2004

There's a very nice statue commemorating this event near the entrance to the PNE here in Vancouver. It was erected in 1967 near the entrance to Empire Stadium, where the race actually took place, then moved to its current location when the stadium was demolished in the early 80s.

Great post, F4B2!
posted by filmgoerjuan at 1:53 PM on August 7, 2004

That statue is creepy.
posted by crasspastor at 8:24 PM on August 7, 2004

This is a really good post, but I have to agree with ParisParamus regarding Greg LeMond's Tour De France win. Holy moly that was a powerful moment, and Greg looked like he wanted to ride another 100 miles at the end of the time trial, and Laurent looked like he wanted to die.
posted by Eekacat at 7:21 AM on August 9, 2004