Born in Harrow, England, the then 25-year-old Oxford University medical student was regarded as Britain’s best middle-distance runner, but had recently experienced crushing disappointment after finishing fourth in the 1500 metres at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki – a race he had been widely expected to win.

The following months saw Bannister toying with the idea of giving up athletics, before he decided to set himself a new goal of becoming the First man to run a mile in under four minutes.

Inspired by his running hero Sydney Wooderson, who had made a remarkable comeback in 1945 by setting a new British record in the same event, Bannister set out to achieve the holy grail of athletics.

The scene for Bannister’s finest moment was an early race in the 1954 season at Oxford University’s ramshackle Iffley Road track, during the annual match between the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA) and the university.

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Alongside Bannister, the two other principal runners involved for the AAA were his friends Chris Chataway and Chris Brasher, with the attempt carefully planned between the three.

Chataway was an underbrewer at the Guinness Brewery in Park Royal, London. He would go on to introduce the race’s timekeeper and old university friend, Norris McWhirter, to the brewery’s owner, Sir Hugh Beaver, recommending him and his brother Ross as editors for the company’s new publication – a book that would compile superlatives to help settle pub arguments.

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Down to the last moment before the race, Bannister had misgivings about the weather, which had seen a strong wind gather at the track, but he was persuaded to go ahead with the attempt by his two pacemakers. The first two laps saw Brasher set out at the front with a speed Bannister at the time feared was too slow. In fact, the tempo proved to be just right, with Brasher reaching the halfway mark in 1 minute 58 seconds. Chataway then took up the mantle halfway through the third lap, with Bannister following intently behind. As the crowd’s roar began to get louder, and sensing the moment of a lifetime, Bannister took his cue on the far straight of the last lap and lengthened his stride to speed past Chataway around the final bend.

Recalling his burst of speed on the home stretch, Bannister says: “The earth seemed to move with me. I found a new source of power and beauty, a source I never knew existed.”