The mile race has returned to the Commonwealth Games for the first time since 1966. The 1954 final in Vancouver, later dubbed the Miracle Mile, gave the Games one of its greatest moments when England’s Roger Bannister, the first person to break the four-minute mile, faced Australia’s John Landy, the second person in history to run sub four minutes and the new record holder.
Bannister’s tactical masterpiece
From our special correspondent
Vancouver, 7 August
The final of the mile came up to the highest expectations. Landy knew he could not hope to equal Bannister’s finishing burst. So he set off at a cracking pace, obviously intending to gain as big a lead as possible. He did the first lap in 58.2sec and was five yards ahead of the Englishman. Even at this early stage they were moving away from the six other runners.
At halfway Landy’s time was 1min 58.3sec, and he still led at the end of the third lap, when his time was 2min 58.4sec. But he had not shaken off Bannister, who refused to be hustled. With about 150 yards to go, Landy looked over his shoulder just as Bannister unleashed his finishing spurt. Rapidly the Englishman closed the gap, then passed his man with about 100 yards to go, and clawed his way past the tape about three yards ahead.
Minutes after the finish the announcer hushed the excited buzz of conversation among the crowd when he gave out the winning time as “three minutes …” There was more uproar as the crowd recognised another four-minute mile. When the announcer was able to resume, his “fifty-eight point eight seconds” was greeted with a disappointed gasp of dismay that Bannister’s great race had not recaptured the world’s record for him. But it was Bannister’s best time, and Landy, too, was under four minutes for the second time.
Though Bannister beat his previous best in the mile he was fractions short of Landy’s record. The final did make history for being the first time two athletes in the same race ran sub-four minutes.
In an interview in 2004 (paywalled), Bannister reflected on his remarkable career:
“I think that racing in the Olympics and Commonwealths is more important than breaking records … 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.”
The mile was run at three more Games, but was dropped after 1966 in favour of the metric-distance 1,500-metre race.