Coe on the Go

His latest Mile world record having lasted but a week, Sebastian Coe came racing back to regain it in Brussels

By Kenny Moore, Sports Illustrated

As the gun sounded to begin the Golden Mile in Brussels' Heizel Stadium last Friday night, August 28th, Tom Byers was caught off balance. He was in...

The 3:49.4 Special

He had promised to go for the Mile record, and New Zealand's John Walker delivered, smashing the old mark by 1.6 seconds!

By Kenny Moore, Sports Illustrated

As Roger Bannister had 21 years earlier, John Walker worried about the wind. He had talked the officials at the meet in Goteborg, Sweden...

4 Minutes and 20 Years

In 1954, gasping with effort on Oxford's Iffley Road track, Roger Bannister ran the first 4 minute Mile. Now a prominent neurologist and chairman of the British Sports Council, his celebrity is undimmed, although critics say his idealist's view of athletics is anachronistic.

By Kenny Moore,...

See You Later, Jim Ryun

Sub-54 second final lap yields Mile world record of 3:51.1 and national title for Kansas native in Bakersfield

By Pete Axthelm, Sports Illustrated

Seventeen-year-old Jerry Proctor upset six-time national champion Ralph Boston in the broad jump; Charlie Greene finished second in the 100-yard...

Sportsman of the Year: 1966

Mile star Jim Ryun, 19, the youngest person ever selected as SI's Sportsman

By Sports Illustrated

In its first issue, in August 1954, Sports Illustrated reported the duel of the original 4 minute Milers, Roger Bannister and John Landy, at the British Empire Games in Vancouver. Bannister won...

A Time to Remember: 3:51.3

Leaving the whole world far behind him, Jim Ryun, the 19-year-old durable wonder of Kansas, smashes track's most treasured record—the Mile mark that has eluded American runners for 29 years

By Anita Verschoth, Sports Illustrated

After a few warmup sprints last Sunday on a field next to...

Vas-y, Ja-zy! And He Went

"The Mile has been my ambition. All the really great names are there: Bannister, Landy, Elliott, Snell. These men are idols to me. Now the ambition is realized. I've done what I set out to do."

By Edwin Shrake, Sports Illustrated

At Courtemanche Stadium in the market town of Rennes near the...

The summit chase of an organization Miler: Jim Beatty

"Everybody said the American runner is lazy, don't work. Now the American distance runner is the best in the vorld."

By John Lovesey, Sports Illustrated

Getting to the top these days is not so much a climb for mountaineers as it is an exercise in pyramidal logistics. A large expedition,...

A ‘Novice Miler’ Runs the Fastest Mile Ever

New Zealand's burly Peter Snell, starting in one of the few Mile races of his young career, took the lead with 340 yards to go, sprinted away from the field to better Herb Elliott's classic mark by a tenth of a second: "I think I can improve on the Mile time a little."

By Leslie Hobbs, Sports...

A Man Conquers Himself

Gentle John Landy, after one of history's fastest Mile times, could feel only sadness and defeat. Here is the story of an amazing, dedicated athlete—and an amazing human being: "I'd rather lose a 3:58 Mile than win one in 4:10."

By Paul O'Neil, Sports Illustrated

The townspeople of Fresno,...