Madam, - While Roger Bannister's achievement in recording the first four-minute mile cannot be challenged, the romantic and idealised nature of Eileen Battersby's feature "The fastest and finest", (April 21st) must be challenged.
The view of Bannister as the busy medical student who simply turned up, put his spikes on and broke a world record is mythological nonsense.
Bannister was single-minded in his pursuit of the record, trained for far longer than the 30 minutes quoted in the article, and used his medical knowledge to strengthen his body and improve his times. Bannister's importance, and his long-term contribution to athletics, lies in the fact that, far from being a plucky amateur, he used the most modern and professional attitudes towards training, biomechanics, diet and tactics.
Rather than being remembered solely for his record, Bannister should be praised for modernising the ways in which athletes train and think about their bodies. - Yours, etc.,
MIKE CRONIN, Senior Research Fellow, International Centre for Sports History and Culture, De Montfort University, Leicester, England.