The Best Roger Bannister quotes

I came from such a simple origin, without any great privilege, and I would say I also wanted to make a mark. It wasn’t until I was about 15 that I appeared in a race. — Roger Bannister

Beating John Landy was my defining race. — Roger Bannister

I couldn’t disappoint people. I did not want to fail and exhaust myself, because I was the kind of runner who trained so little that I couldn’t race again within another 10 days. — Roger Bannister

I was playing rugby and the other games English school children do, and there was an event in which races were run, and I won these by a considerable margin. — Roger Bannister

The mile has all the elements of a drama. — Roger Bannister

It’s amazing that more people have climbed Mount Everest than have broken the 4–minute mile. — Roger Bannister

It had always been a British preoccupation to hold this mile record. — Roger Bannister

I couldn’t touch my toes with straight legs, but I could break 4 minutes for the mile. — Roger Bannister

Doctors and scientists said breaking the four–minute mile was impossible, that one would die in the attempt. Thus, when I got up from the track after collapsing at the finish line, I figured I was dead — Roger Bannister

My introduction to track racing was through the background of cross country running, which is not a sport perhaps as popular in America as it is in England. — Roger Bannister

I raced supremely well. I felt I was as well fitted to do it as I had ever been, and as perhaps I might ever be. I went climbing three weeks before, because I was feeling fed up with running. — Roger Bannister

I was always a great bundle of energy. As a child, instead of walking, I would run. And so running, which is a pain to a lot of people, was always a pleasure to me because it was so easy. — Roger Bannister

I was involved in music, acting, and some running, but my firm wish was to become a doctor. That was the formative age when I had decided on the pattern of my career. — Roger Bannister

Just because they say it’s impossible doesn’t mean you can’t do it. — Roger Bannister

The reason sport is attractive to many of the general public is that it’s filled with reversals. What you think may happen doesn’t happen. A champion is beaten, an unknown becomes a champion. — Roger Bannister

Sport is not about being wrapped up in cotton wool. Sport as about adapting to the unexpected and being able to modify plans at the last minute. Sport, like all life, is about taking risks. — Roger Bannister

Athletics is a luxury. — Roger Bannister

Sport, like all of life, is about taking your chances. — Roger Bannister

The man who goes on, even when it’s the hardest to be the winner. — Roger Bannister

The essence of sports is that while you’re doing it, nothing else matters, but after you stop, there is a place, generally not very important, where you would put it. — Roger Bannister