Today is the 50th anniversary of Bannister's record. I hope it is not heretical of me to say that in my humble opinion his the most overhyped, overrated record in history.
There have been many mile record holders over the years; he happened to lower the record under 4 minutes, which is a completely arbitrary feat. Jules Ladoumegue, Jim Ryun, Hicham El Guerrouj and many others (I am not looking this up, so I may be off by a few tenths) have lowered the record by similar amounts but did not receive the acclaim that Bannister got in his (paced) effort.
By the way I heard an interview on CBC radio today with a man who is making a movie of Bannister (really). He was not very knowledgeable about sports and got mixed up in the roles played by Chris Brasher and Chris Chataway. Anyway, he pronounced Brasher's last name as "Bray-sher" rather than having it rhyme with "Masher". Is that correct?
There have been many mile record holders over the years; he happened to lower the record under 4 minutes, which is a completely arbitrary feat. Jules Ladoumegue, Jim Ryun, Hicham El Guerrouj and many others (I am not looking this up, so I may be off by a few tenths) have lowered the record by similar amounts but did not receive the acclaim that Bannister got in his (paced) effort.
By the way I heard an interview on CBC radio today with a man who is making a movie of Bannister (really). He was not very knowledgeable about sports and got mixed up in the roles played by Chris Brasher and Chris Chataway. Anyway, he pronounced Brasher's last name as "Bray-sher" rather than having it rhyme with "Masher". Is that correct?
Comment