Four-minute mile

For other uses, see Four-minute mile (disambiguation).

Blue plaque recording the first sub-four-minute mile, run by Roger Bannister on 6 May 1954 at Oxford University's Iffley Road Track

A four-minute mile is the completion of a mile run (1.6 km) in four minutes or less. It translates to a speed of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h).[1] It is a standard of professional middle distance runners in several cultures.

The first four-minute mile is usually attributed to the English athlete Roger Bannister, who ran it in 1954 at age 25, in 3:59.4.[2] The mile record has since been lowered by 16.27 seconds. As of June 2022, the "four-minute barrier" has been broken by 1,755 athletes.[3] The record for the fastest time stands at 3:43.13, achieved by the Moroccan athlete Hicham El Guerrouj, at age 24, in 1999.[4][5]

  1. ^ "Finding the Next Roger Bannister". Cameron Poetzscher's Sports Blog. Archived from the original on 6 June 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  2. ^ "Sports: Bannister stuns world with 4-minute mile". Sptimes.com. 17 December 1999. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  3. ^ The Sub-4 Alphabetic Register (1,755 athletes as at 6 June 2022), National Union of Track Statisticians, 30 June 2022
  4. ^ "Most Popular". CNN. 8 May 2000. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011.
  5. ^ YouTube video: Hicham El Guerrouj sets a world record in the mile in 1999