I WAS saddened to learn of the death of Sir Roger Bannister.
As a young National Serviceman I was stationed in London in 1954 and one morning in May, on my way to breakfast in the local NAAFI I noticed the newspapers carried the headlines of “Bannister breaks the four minute barrier”. The Press rightly described it as remarkable achievement and an inspiration for the world of athletics.
It encouraged many including myself to take up the sport.
Surprisingly Sir Roger did not become BBC Sports Personality of the year in 1954 and instead it was won by one of his pacemakers in the epic mile, namely Chris Chataway.
One possible explanation for this apparent oversight was that later that year Chataway defeated the Russian athlete V. Kuts in a world record breaking 5,000 metres at White City, London in front of a crowd of 50,000 in one of the most exciting races I have ever witnessed. At the height of the Cold War to get one over on the Russians may also have influenced the public’s voting trends. Sir Roger blamed the constant exposure that Chris enjoyed at the time as a TV reporter.
Ian Barnes, Darlington Harrier
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