MOWA to make its mark at Bannister Miles event

The Museum of World Athletics is creating a display of magnificent mile-related memorabilia in Oxford on May 6

The Bannister Miles event in Oxford on May 6 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the first sub-four-minute mile will feature a number of vintage items thanks to the Museum of World Athletics (MOWA) and the global governing body’s Heritage department.

There will be a display at Iffley Road in Oxford from Saturday May 4 to Monday May 6 and it will include…

» The original programme from May 6, 1954, autographed by Roger Bannister, Chris Chataway and Chris Brasher.

» Paavo Nurmi (1925 bronze bust).

» Diane Leather (silvered spikes, first woman to run a sub-5min mile on May 29. 1954).

» Ron Delany (Silver bowl, 1959 Philadelphia Inquirer Mile).

» Herb Elliott (1960 Olympic singlet).

» Jim Beatty (1962 world record spikes as the first man to run sub-4min indoors).

» Kip Keino (1965 Morley Mile Trophy).

» Steve Cram (1980 Moscow Olympics tracksuit).

» Seb Coe (1984 LA Olympics spikes and singlet).

» Eamonn Coghlan (Wanamaker Mile Trophy and world indoor mile record spikes).

» Abdi Bile (1987 World Champs singlet).

» Hicham El Guerrouj (1995 World Indoor Champs singlet).

» Gabriela Szabo (2001 World Champs singlet).

» Bernard Lagat (2010 World Indoor Champs singlet).

» Gudaf Tsegay (World indoor 1500m record spikes, 2021).

» Jake Wightman (2022 World Champs spikes).

» Faith Kipyegon (2023 World Champs spikes).

In total the 17 athletes above include seven Olympic and five world 1500m champions and seven world mile record-breakers, the first man to go sub-3.30 for the 1500m, the first men to go sub-4 in the mile indoors and outdoors, the first woman inside five minutes, the current outdoor world record-holders for both the men’s and women’s miles, the women’s indoor 1500m record-holder, and four runners, each world indoor mile record-breakers, who have between them won 20 Wanamaker Mile titles.

The Bannister Miles event on May 6 will see a mass community mile on the roads plus a series of BMC races on Monday afternoon. You can find out more here.

This follows the recent Museum of World Athletics event in Glasgow city centre earlier this month where, among other things, Coe announced the awarding of a World Athletics Heritage Plaque in humous category of ‘Legend’ to ‘The Flying Scotsman’ Eric Liddell.

The presentation of the plaque took place in front of an invited audience of 150 guests that included 1980 Olympic 100m champion Allan Wells and 2000 Olympic heptathlon champion Denise Lewis, who earlier in the ceremony had made donations of historic clothing and shoes from their competition careers to the Museum of World Athletics.

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