Sir Roger Bannister has paid tribute to the man who paced him to the four-minute mile, Sir Christopher Chataway, who died yesterday at the age of 82.
A former 5,000m world record-holder, Chataway is best remembered for the part he played in helping Bannister break the four-minute mile barrier in 1954.
Chataway, along with Chris Brasher, acted as pacemaker for the race at the Iffley Road track in Oxford on May 6, 1954, when Bannister became the first man to achieve a feat which had remained elusive for so long.
Chataway died at St John’s Hospice, London, having suffered from cancer for two-and-a-half years, said his his son, Mark.
“He was gallant to the end,” said Bannister. “Our friendship dated back more than half a century. We laughed, ran and commiserated together. People will always remember him for the great runner he was, but it shouldn’t be forgotten that he had an extremely distinguished career off the track.”
Chataway gained recognition for himself later in 1954 when, two weeks after taking 5,000m silver behind Vladimir Kuts at the European championships in Berne, he beat the Russian on the way to breaking the world record for the distance. Chataway clocked 13 minutes 51.6 seconds at a televised race at White City, edging out his rival by 0.1sec. He went on to beat Bannister to become the first BBC Sports Personality of the Year that year.
Chataway was also a distinguished broadcaster and in 1995 was knighted for his services to the aviation industry.