Mile News


Phil Knight: I would have tried to sign Roger Bannister

October 01, 2015

“A lot of people said it was impossible. I was a junior in high school [when Bannister broke the 4 minute barrier] and my history teacher says, ‘The stopwatches were wrong, a human being can’t run that fast.'”

By Nick Zaccardi, NBC Sports

It’s no surprise that Nike co-founder Phil Knight, when asked by USA Today which athlete he wished he could have signed to his company from before it was founded in 1964, picked a track & field star.

His answer to the hypothetical question was Roger Bannister, who in 1954 became the first human to run a Mile in under 4 minutes.

“Track & field has a special place in my heart, #1,” Knight, a former University of Oregon runner who announced at age 77 earlier this year he was stepping down, told the newspaper. “#1, breaking the 4 minute Mile."

Continue reading at: olympics.nbcsports.com

Tags: roger bannister (175) , phil knight (3)

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