February 25, 2022
JOHN MICHAEL LANDY
April 12, 1930 - February 24, 2022
We lost another one of the great ones today, and one of the the true gentlemen of our sport. Only the second miler to break four minutes, Landy was one of the three men who were racing toward the first sub four minute mile in 1954 along with Roger Bannister and Wes Santee. Gunder Haag and Arne Andersson of Sweden were challenging almost ten years earlier but didn't quite make it. Then Bannister with a bit of help from his training mates Chis Chataway and Chris Brasher got it done in 3:59.4 on May 6, 1954 at the Iffley Road track in Oxford, and a few weeks later John Landy also getting some help in the way of pacing from Chris Chataway again, lowered the new record for the first time to 3:58.0 in Turku, Finland.
From Racing Past my friend John Cobley of Sydney, British Columbia has written a wonderful piece on this great runner.
John Landy from Racing Past link
By Staff Writers and AAP
LANDY RUN BOOST FOR 1956 GAMES
Mile Time Praised
The chief executive officer for the 1956 Olympic Games (Lieutenant-General W. Bridgeford) said last night that he hoped Landy would be able to retain form to run in the Melbourne Games.
He described Landy’s 3.58 mile at Turku on Monday as a “magnificent effort.” The resulting publicity should increase interest in the Games and Australia generally, he added.
The secretary of the Australian Olympic Federation (Mr E. Tanner) said Landy’s fine character and performances overseas proved him a great ambassador for his country.
“Landy follows on a great line of Australian milers and has topped the lot,” Mr Tanner added. “His world-record performance should inspire other Australian athletes to greater efforts.
“His run and himself are one of the finest advertisements Australia could wish for for the Olympic Games.”
The secretary of the V.A.A.A. (Mr W. Day) said Lay had justified every confidence the association had in him.
“It was a splendid run and a great build-up for Australian athletes,” Mr. Day said.
Cable Sent
The mayor of Geelong (Cr Morris Jacobs) sent the following cable to Landy a member of the Geelong Guild Harriers:
“The mayor, councilors and citizens of Geelong congratulate you on your success. We are very proud of you.”
Coach Lauded
Sharing credit for the new world mile time is Percy Cerutty, the Australian coach, who in less than a year has improved Landy’s capacity from 4 min 21 sec. to 3.58.
Tributes to Landy’s great performance have come from many quarters.
Jack Crump, secretary of the British Amateur Athletic Board, said, “Good heavens” when told Landy’s time.
Then he added, “This is just fantastic. He is a very great runner, and we all are very, very glad he should be the first man to beat Bannister.
“I suppose now we shall have to start thinking of a 3 min. 50 sec. mile – but I would not like to guess where it will end.”
Mr Stanley Smith, chairman of the British Empire Games Committee said in Vancouver that Landy’s effort was a “criterion of what the spectators can expect at the Games here,”
Chris Chataway, who placed both Landy and Bannister in the record runs, said last night that he considered Landy and Bannister as equals.
Great Help
Landy himself said Chataway was instrumental in making the performance possible. He had glanced back once and saw Chataway right on his heels.
In Brussels, Gaston Reiff, Belgian holder of the 3000-metre world record, said Landy’s mile was really fantastic.
“I always thought he would beat four minutes, but to do 3.58 is wonderful.
“It is good he came to Europe, because I doubt whether he could have achieved a world record in Australia.
“The air and track at Turku must have helped a lot.”
John Landy’s record-shattering time of 3 min. 58 sec. probably will be beaten.
The Professor of Physiology at Sydney University, Professor F. S. Cotton, said this tonight.
“I do not consider that the time limit for the mile has been reached,” Professor Cotton said.
“We don’t know the limits of human endurance.
“Although we are getting close to the limit, there is always a possibility that an athlete might be stimulated to an even greater effort.
“If there was some colossal danger an athlete was trying to escape, he might run faster than experts thought possible for the human frame.
“I would agree that we would never reach 3 ½ minutes for the mile. Any reduction in the world record will, of course, be small”.
Current record for one mile is Hicham El Guerrouj 3:43.13 ed.
Daily Mail Obituary This is a link to an very good obituary noting John Landy's history and talks a bit about all his great races and includes information about his incredible butterfly collection worth over $1 million.
To June 21, 2009, the IAAF has ratified 32 world records in the event.[5]
| Time | Auto | Athlete | Nationality | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4:14.4 | John Paul Jones |  United States | 31 May 1913[5] | Allston, Mass. | |
| 4:12.6 | Norman Taber | United States | 16 July 1915[5] | Allston, Mass. | |
| 4:10.4 | Paavo Nurmi |  Finland | 23 August 1923[5] | Stockholm | |
| 4:09.2 | Jules Ladoumègue |  France | 4 October 1931[5] | Paris | |
| 4:07.6 | Jack Lovelock |  New Zealand | 15 July 1933[5] | Princeton, N.J. | |
| 4:06.8 | Glenn Cunningham | United States | 16 June 1934[5] | Princeton, N.J. | |
| 4:06.4 | Sydney Wooderson |  United Kingdom | 28 August 1937[5] | Motspur Park | |
| 4:06.2 | Gunder Hägg |  Sweden | 1 July 1942[5] | Göteborg | |
| 4:06.2 | Arne Andersson | Sweden | 10 July 1942[5] | Stockholm | |
| 4:04.6 | Gunder Hägg | Sweden | 4 September 1942[5] | Stockholm | |
| 4:02.6 | Arne Andersson | Sweden | 1 July 1943[5] | Göteborg | |
| 4:01.6 | Arne Andersson | Sweden | 18 July 1944[5] | Malmö | |
| 4:01.4 | Gunder Hägg | Sweden | 17 July 1945[5] | Malmö | |
| 3:59.4 | Roger Bannister | United Kingdom | 6 May 1954[5] | Oxford | |
| 3:58.0 | John Landy |  Australia | 21 June 1954[5] | Turku | |
| 3:57.2 | Derek Ibbotson | United Kingdom | 19 July 1957[5] | London | |
| 3:54.5 | Herb Elliott | Australia | 6 August 1958[5] | Santry, Dublin | |
| 3:54.4 | Peter Snell | New Zealand | 27 January 1962[5] | Wanganui | |
| 3:54.1 | 3:54.04 | Peter Snell | New Zealand | 17 November 1964[5] | Auckland |
| 3:53.6 | Michel Jazy | France | 9 June 1965[5] | Rennes | |
| 3:51.3 | Jim Ryun | United States | 17 July 1966[5] | Berkeley, Cal. | |
| 3:51.1 | Jim Ryun | United States | 23 June 1967[5] | Bakersfield, Cal. | |
| 3:51.0 | Filbert Bayi |  Tanzania | 17 May 1975[5] | Kingston | |
| 3:49.4 | John Walker | New Zealand | 12 August 1975[5] | Göteborg | |
| 3:49.0 | 3:48.95 | Sebastian Coe | United Kingdom | 17 July 1979[5] | Oslo |
| 3:48.8 | Steve Ovett | United Kingdom | 1 July 1980[5] | Oslo | |
| 3:48.53 | Sebastian Coe | United Kingdom | 19 August 1981[5] | Zürich | |
| 3:48.40 | Steve Ovett | United Kingdom | 26 August 1981[5] | Koblenz | |
| 3:47.33 | Sebastian Coe | United Kingdom | 28 August 1981[5] | Bruxelles | |
| 3:46.32 | Steve Cram | United Kingdom | 27 July 1985[5] | Oslo | |
| 3:44.39 | Noureddine Morceli |  Algeria | 5 September 1993[5] | Rieti | |
| 3:43.13 | Hicham El Guerrouj |  Morocco | 7 July 1999[5] | Rome |
Auto times to the hundredth of a second were accepted by the IAAF for events up to and including 10,000 m from 1981.[5]
2 comments:
I was just thinking about him today. He was one of my boyhood heroes and we celebrated the same birthday. In fact, I mentioned him in a Facebook entry about Payton Jordan about five hours ago and just noted that the LIFE magazine cover I used in the blog today is used below. Jordan and Landy were both classic gentlemen.
I was a senior in high school while attempting to become a miler in 1954. I don't know why, but I was rooting for Landy to break the barrier before my fellow American, Wes Santee. I had had not even heard of Roger Bannister when the news came over the radio that Bannister broke the four-minute barrier. I recall feeling disappointed that Landy was not the first, then also being disappointed when Bannister won the "Mile of the Century" in Vancouver.
In 1979, before the 25th anniversary of the first four-minute mile, Albie Thomas, whom I knew from his many Hawaii visits, gave me Landy's address. I wrote to him with a few questions and used his answers in my article for the Honolulu Advertiser about the historic event. I sent a letter thanking him for his reply and told him if he was ever in Honolulu, lunch was on me. When, a few years later, I received a phone call from him, I could not have been more surprised if Babe Ruth had called, even considering the fact that Ruth was dead at the time. We met again at the Vancouver Expo, in 1986, I think. He will be missed.
I well remember the day after the mile race between John Landy and Roger Bannister at 1954 Empire Games in Vancouver.
My father, George Bailey, spread the Sunday paper in front of me. It showed the famous photo of Landy looking to his left just at the instance that Bannister passed him on the right.
Dad was a great sportsman and once had a tryout with the Toronto Maple Leafs (ice hockey team). He kept shaking his head in disbelief that 2 men could run a mile under 4 minutes in the same race.
I was 9 years old and I did not appreciate the importance of this accomplishment at the time.
I did run two sub-4 minutes miles later in my life in 1966-67.
I wish my dad had still been alive to celebrate with him.
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