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.”
STILL IN THE HUNT: Rasmus Hojlund took his goal tally for SSC Napoli to nine as the champions cruised to a win at US Cremonese and stayed two points behind the leaders Inter on Sunday stayed at the Serie A summit after beating Atalanta BC 1-0 to maintain their slender lead over local rivals AC Milan. Lautaro Martinez netted the only goal of the game in Bergamo for Inter, who lead Milan, 3-0 winners against Hellas Verona thanks to Christoper Nkunku’s first Serie A goals, by a single point at the top of the division. The Argentina striker has scored in four consecutive league matches to end what has been a tricky year in positive style. “I ended last season in a lot of pain... I kept going during the Club World Cup and international
Hosts Morocco on Friday were held to a 1-1 draw by Mali at the Africa Cup of Nations, ending their world record run of wins and leaving them still to make sure of progress to the next stage. Midfielder Brahim Diaz tucked away a penalty in stoppage-time at the end of the first half, but Mali equalized from the spot midway through the second half through Lassine Sinayoko. Both penalties were awarded after video reviews in a tempestuous clash at the end of a busy day of action at the tournament. Morocco were atop the Group A standings with four points, while Zambia,
An astounding 20 wickets fell on a frantic first day of the fourth Ashes Test yesterday, with Australia all out for 152 before storming back to dismiss England for 110 and leave the clash on a knife-edge. England skipper Ben Stokes won a key toss on a green track and his quicks feasted after sending in the hosts under overcast skies in front of 94,199 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It was the biggest cricket crowd ever at the cavernous arena, exceeding the 93,013 who watched the 2015 World Cup final, and they witnessed the home side collapse with Josh Tongue
Algeria on Sunday became the third country after Egypt and Nigeria to qualify for the knockout stage of the Africa Cup of Nations by edging Burkina Faso 1-0 in Rabat through a Riyad Mahrez penalty. Defending champions Ivory Coast failed to join the trio after drawing 1-1 with Cameroon in a lively showdown in Marrakesh. Elsewhere, Mozambique ended a 39-match wait for a first victory by beating Gabon 3-2, while Sudan got back into contention for a last-16 slot by beating Equatorial Guinea 1-0 in Casablanca. Captain Mahrez converted from the penalty spot midway through the first half and Algeria then held on
RSS