Did Sir Roger Bannister make the ‘impossible’ possible?
After Sir Roger Bannister ran a mile in under four minutes, did positive thinking propel dozens to do the same?
More or Less marks the passing of a sporting legend. This week Sir Roger Bannister, the first person to run one mile in less than 4 minutes, died peacefully in Oxford at the age of 88.
His achievement was one of the most famous records of the 20th Century, and soon became shrouded in myth. After the ‘impossible’ psychological barrier was broken, motivational speakers like Anthony Robbins claim that the year after it was broken, the power of positive thinking helped dozens of runners to break the four-minute record.
Four years ago Tim Harford spoke to Sir Roger Bannister himself to separate myth from reality and find out exactly what propelled him to his famous feat.
Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: James Fletcher
(Britain's Roger Bannister (centre) being congratulated by Chris Chataway after setting a new record of 3 minutes 59.4 seconds. On the left is Chris Brasher. Photo by Norman Potter / Getty Images)
Last on
More episodes
Broadcasts
- Sun 11 Mar 2018 19:50GMT³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service except News Internet
- Mon 12 Mar 2018 13:50GMT³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service except News Internet
- Tue 13 Mar 2018 02:50GMT³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service except News Internet
Download this programme
Subscribe to this programme or download individual episodes.