It is the nature of athletic record

It is the nature of athletic records that they are broken and their place is taken by others. Yet in many sports events, there is a mark which is not significiant in itself, but which becomes a legend as athletes try to break it. The most famoust of these is the attemp to run the mile in less than four minutes.
In 1945, the mile record was brought down to 4 minutes, 1.5 seconds. And there, for nine years, it stuck. Then, in 1954, a medical student called Roger Bannister decided to try and break the record. He had been training for this day since running the mile in 4 minutes, 2 seconds the previous year.
Two other runners set the pace for him, and with 250 yards to go he burst ahead for the finish. He wrote afterwards :"my body had exhausted all its energy, but it went on running just the same. Those last few seconds seemed a desperate attempt to save himself from danger"
Bannister's time was 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds. Although this record has been broken on many occasions since, Bannister's achievement will never be forgotten