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A jubilant Ossama Meslek leads a quartet of milers inside four minutes in Oxford exactly 70 years after Roger Bannister’s famous feat
On an afternoon that saw Iffley Road track in Oxford drenched with relentless rain, the showers finally stopped just in time for the final race of the day at 6pm. The flag on top of the nearby church stopped fluttering in the wind and went limp, just as it had 70 years earlier when Roger Bannister became the first man to break four minutes for the mile.
On that occasion – May 6, 1954 – Bannister created history with 3:59.4. This Monday, though, four men smashed through the barrier on a day of joyous anniversary celebrations.
Ossama Meslek led the charge in glorious style with 3:56.15 followed by James Young with 3:57.71, Tiarnan Crorken in 3:58.85 and Max Wharton with 3:59.19. The Italian international, who runs for Leeds City, even had the luxury of celebrating during his final strides as a crowd of around 2000 roared its approval.
Moments earlier – and 70 years after Diane Leather had become the world’s first female sub-five-minute miler – Khai Mhlanga ran 4:36.09 to hold off Bethan Morley and Lauren Church in the women’s mile.
Ossama Meslek (Will Palmer)
“Going sub-four here is pretty special,” said Meslek. “As I’m racing at the Diamond League in Doha in a few days’ time, it felt perfect to come here. The conditions didn’t seem great but it was perfectly still in the end. I tried to wind it up toward the end and everything went to plan.”
Among the crowd was current world mile record-holder Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco, British record-holder Steve Cram and former mile record-holders Filbert Bayi of Tanzania and Noureddine Morceli of Algeria, plus Irish miling legend Eamonn Coghlan. After being swamped by autograph hunters and selfie seekers all day, the supermilers turned their attentions to watch the main race of the day – and it didn’t disappoint.
The Bannister family were also in attendance with their father, who died in 2018, no doubt casting a nod of approval from the heavens. “I think he would have been very proud of what happened today,” said one of his sons, Thurstan Bannister.
El Guerrouj, whose mile record of 3:43.13 has stood since 1999, was determined to visit Oxford for the anniversary celebrations despite visa problems and he said: “I wanted to be here to celebrate the whole legacy that our spiritual father left behind.
“I had the privilege to meet Roger Bannister at Crystal Palace and I was excited because he was such a great inspiration to me and many athletes who know the history of the sport.”
Hicham El Guerrouj congratulates Ossama Meslek (Will Palmer)
Morceli, an Olympic and three-time world 1500m champion in addition to being a 3:44.39 miler, added: “Roger was a wonderful person. His spirit will live on as long as we live and will be an inspiration for many generations. I was inspired by him because nobody thought someone would break four minutes but he opened the door for us. He made us believe in ourselves and that there is no limit to our performance.”
Coghlan, the first man to run a sub-3:50 mile indoors and, later, a sub-four-minute mile as an M40, said: “I was only a year old when Sir Roger ran a world record for the mile. I remember watching it at the cinema as a child. When I took up athletics I dreamed of running for Ireland, going to the Olympics and running a sub-four-minute mile, so to achieve all this after watching him as a child and then being here as part of that whole tradition is unbelievable.”
Khai Mhlanga beats Beth Morley (Will Palmer)
The day was as much of an “occasion” as a track meeting. It began with community mile runs in the centre of Oxford at 9am with Cram and El Guerrouj rolling back the years and rubbing shoulders with fun runners and youngsters. The track races during the afternoon were superbly staged in difficult conditions by Oxford University students and the British Milers Club with spectators able to browse around a magnificent Museum of World Athletics display as they took refuge from the rain.
Later, a number of guests enjoyed an evening of fine dining and nostalgia at Exeter College as the Bannister family paid an emotional and heartfelt tribute to their father’s exploits, not just in athletics but in neurology and sports administration.
Filbert Bayi, Steve Cram, Hicham El Guerrouj (Will Palmer)
There were even world bests recorded in the new steeplechase mile with Will Battershill running 4:25.81 in the men’s race despite being frustratingly held in the rain at the start with his fellow runners for several minutes as officials made sure the barriers were fixed in the right positions.
“The mile is hard enough anyway so if you add barriers then it’s a tough event,” said Battershill on this new event. “It felt like a sprint and you haven’t got time to lose focus as the last lap comes around quickly. It hurt a lot too!”
Despite the damp conditions, athletes of all ages excelled. The masterful Clare Elms smashed the British W60 mile record by eight seconds with 5:30.88 in the women’s C race, which means she now owns 10 national age group records in the mile from the W45 through to W60 categories on the road and track.
Mara Yamauchi, Clare Elms, Jo Pavey
Only 14, Jorjia March of Barnet & District AC was a convincing winner of the under-15 girls’ mile in 4:57.00, while Madison Kindler of Brentwood Beagles ran 5:03.85 for a big win in the under-13 girls’ race.
The men’s B race also saw some fine running with Ben Reynolds taking a narrow win in 4:06.32 from under-20 runner William Rabjohns as Evan Grime, only 15, clocked 4:11.59 in ninth. In comparison, Bannister clocked just 4:24.6 aged 18, albeit on a cinder track with heavy leather spikes, before eventually breaking the four-minute barrier seven years later.
Monday was also an opportunity for plenty of Oxford students, past and present, to put on their racing spikes. These included former Oxford student Simon Mugglestone, the 1987 European junior 5000m champion and 3:58 miler, who didn’t run a step for 30 years following Achilles surgery but made a comeback a couple of years ago and now, as an M55 runner, clocked 5:09.99 just 24 hours after racing 10km at the Great Birmingham Run.
Full results here.
» Look out for an in-depth feature on Hicham El Guerrouj in the June issue of AW magazine. Subscribe here
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