Sir Roger Bannister has not joined FLAPSS and has not endorsed it. This page is a reference record assembled from published interviews and public remarks. Every answer below is a direct quotation with the source and date shown next to it.
Middle-distance runner and neurologist; first man to run a mile in under four minutes
United Kingdom · 1929–2018
Roger Bannister was an English middle-distance runner and neurologist who became the first person to run a mile in under four minutes, at Iffley Road, Oxford, in May 1954. He retired from competition later that year and spent the rest of his working life in medicine, specialising in disorders of the autonomic nervous system.
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I had set my mind on winning the 1500-meter gold medal in Helsinki in 1952. ... And, it all came disastrously wrong when I came fourth instead of winning. ... Instead of retiring in order to devote myself to medicine, I decided to go on for another two years while I was still a student, working clinically in London, and I did that.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, 7 June 2002 source ↗
No, because I was set for it. My core, my whole life was medicine. I wanted to become a specialist. So for ten years I concentrated solely on medicine. It took ten years to become a consultant in neurology.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, 7 June 2002 source ↗
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