Sir Roger Bannister: The Mile of the Century

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Academy of Achievement

Film, Politics, Arts, Self-help, Sports, Society & Culture, Success, Literature, Humanitarian, Military, Social Justice, Technology, Podcast, Achievement, Music, Science

4.6 • 943 Ratings

🗓️ 1 August 2016

⏱️ 34 minutes

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Summary

When Englishman Roger Bannister was studying medicine at Oxford in the 1940's, he began to have great success as a member of the track team. He knew enough about physiology to question a long-held belief: that humans were simply not built to run a mile in less than four minutes. He was determined to shatter that myth, and he did. In this episode, Bannister describes how he developed his own unique approach to training, one that allowed him to very gradually improve speed, while leaving time for his studies in neuroscience. After eight years, he was ready. At a meet held in May of 1954, he stunned the world, running a mile in 3:59.4. It is considered one of the greatest athletic achievements of all time, alongside Sir Edmund Hillary's ascent of Mt. Everest. (c ) American Academy of Achievement 2016

Transcript

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0:00.0	Madame, this child is gifted, and I heard that enough that I started to believe it.
0:08.6	If you have the opportunity, not a perfect opportunity, and you don't take it, you may never have another job.
0:15.0	It all was so clear. It was just like the picture started to form itself.
0:19.6	There was no way in which a lie could prevail over the truth, darkness over light, death over life.
0:27.0	Every day I wake up and decide. Today I'm going to love my life.
0:34.0	Decide.
0:39.0	My advice is if they don't break your leg once when you go in that place stay out of there. And then along come these differential experiences that you don't look for, you don't plan for,
0:46.3	but boy you better not miss them.
0:49.9	This is what it takes a podcast about passion, vision, and perseverance from the Academy of Achievement.
1:00.0	I'm Alice Winkler and thanks for joining us.
1:02.0	The reason sport is attractive to many of the general public
1:07.0	is that it's filled with reversals.
1:10.0	What you think may happen doesn't happen.
1:13.0	A champion is beaten, an unknown becomes a champion.
1:17.0	For the next 30 minutes, I invite you to try to forget about that long list of calamities, conspiring to ruin your
1:26.7	enjoyment of the Rio Olympics, not to mention the health and welfare of the
1:31.6	athletes themselves.
1:33.0	Instead, soak in this inspiring story from a simpler time
1:39.0	before the zekavirus and state-sponsored doping, a story of the runner who broke the four minute mile, Sir Roger Bannister.
1:49.0	Well, I must be the international athlete who trained least.
1:55.0	In other words, I had worked out from my knowledge of physiology
2:00.0	what was the minimum amount of training that will be needed to continue to improve year by year.
	...

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