Record-breaking British athlete Roger Bannister, the first man to run a mile in under four minutes, has died aged 88, his family announced on Sunday.
“Sir Roger Bannister died peacefully in Oxford on 3rd March 2018, aged 88, surrounded by his family, who were as loved by him as he was loved by them,” his family said.
“He banked his treasure in the hearts of his friends,” the family added, in a statement published by the Press Association news agency.
Bannister gained global sporting glory on May 6, 1954, when he ran 1 mile (1.6km) in 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds at the Iffley Road track in Oxford.
International Association of Athletics Federations president Sebastian Coe said Bannister’s death marked “a day of intense sadness both for our nation and for all of us in athletics.”
“There is not a single athlete of my generation who was not inspired by Roger and his achievements both on and off the track,” tweeted Coe, who won two Olympic gold medals in the 1980s.
Coe was speaking at the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, England, where spectators saluted Bannister with a minute’s applause as the lights were dimmed after footage of his running career was shown on giant screens.
Then, as a mark of respect to Bannister, no competition took place for a further two minutes.
Half a century after Bannister’s record, the Royal Mint celebrated the occasion by issuing a 50 pence coin showing an athlete’s running legs against a stopwatch.
British Prime Minister Theresa May described Bannister as “a great British sporting icon whose achievements were an inspiration to us all.”
“He will be greatly missed,” she wrote on Twitter.
Despite being famed for breaking the four-minute barrier, Bannister said he felt a greater sense of achievement after winning gold at the 1954 Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, Canada, beating his great rival Australian John Landy in a race later dubbed the “Miracle Mile.”
“I think that racing in the Olympics and Commonwealths is more important than breaking records,” Bannister said in 2014. “Vancouver was the pinnacle of my athletics career. It is very difficult to break records during Olympic competition, but winning races was better than holding world records.”
Defending champions Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday led the way into the Cincinnati Open quarter-finals, with Carlos Alcaraz hot on their heels after a straight-sets victory of his own. Sinner shrugged off a mid-match weather delay lasting nearly three hours as he advanced 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) over Adrian Mannarino. Alcaraz, the second seed who has reached the final in his past six tournaments, hammered Italian lucky loser Luca Nardi 6-1, 6-4. After sweeping the opening set in 28 minutes, Alcaraz hit a speed bump, dropping his serve to trail 2-4. He promptly regained the break, then fought through a marathon ninth game
STUMBLE: World No. 2 Coco Gauff confidently won her first set against seventh-seed Italian Jasmine Paolini before being overcome in the second and third sets World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and second-ranked Coco Gauff were sent crashing out of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open on Friday, while Carlos Alcaraz fought off a fierce challenge from Andrey Rublev to reach the semi-finals. Top seed and defending champion Sabalenka had no answer for Elena Rybakina, falling to the 2022 Wimbledon champion 6-1, 6-4. Reigning French Open champion Gauff had 16 double faults in a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 exit at the hands of seventh-seeded Italian Jasmine Paolini. Spain’s second-ranked Alcaraz had his difficulties, but he broke Rublev in the final game of a tense duel to emerge a 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 winner
Spanish champions Barcelona opened their Spanish La Liga campaign on Saturday with an island cruise as they played almost an hour against nine men on their way to a 3-0 victory in RCD Mallorca. Barcelona’s second-half stroll did not please coach Hansi Flick. “They’re three important points, but I didn’t like the match,” he told broadcaster Movistar. “After going two goals up and following Mallorca’s two red cards, I think the team only gave 50 percent, and I didn’t like that,” he said. “Playing at 50 or 60 per cent is not possible against nine players.” Two of Barcelona’s Ballon
Taiwan’s national basketball team on Wednesday suffered a heartbreaking loss, ending their FIBA Asia Cup run after Iran staged a dramatic comeback to secure a 78-75 victory in the quarter-finals at King Abdullah Sports City in Saudi Arabia. Taiwan were in front for 38 minutes, 30 seconds of the 40-minute game. Iran only took the lead in the final minute, but it was enough to knock Taiwan out of the tournament. With the win, Iran advanced to tomorrow’s semi-finals, when they face Australia. The loss ended a promising campaign for Taiwan, who had been aiming for their first semi-final appearance since the 2013 FIBA
RSS