the men 's mark has tumbled over the years , with britons sebastian coe , steve ovett and steve cram each holding the record at least once in the 1980s .
he was considered for the british team at the 1948 london olympics - just two years after taking up running as a 17 - year - old - but did earn a place in the team at the 1952 games in helsinki , where he set a new british record en route to fourth in the 1500 metres final .
american wes santee and australia 's john landy were also targeting the record when bannister finally achieved the feat in the spring of 1954 .
media playback is not supported on this device this video has been removed for rights reasons sir roger bannister , the first person to run a mile in under four minutes , has died at the age of 88 .
bannister , who used his medical knowledge to devise his own training regime and investigate the mechanical aspects of running , turned his sights on becoming the first person to run inside four minutes for the mile after the olympics and twice went close to achieving his goal in 1953 .
a statement from his family said : " sir roger bannister , died peacefully in oxford on 3 march , aged 88 , surrounded by his family who were as loved by him , as he was loved by them . "
the organisers of the london marathon paid tribute to bannister with a picture of him alongside pacesetters chris chataway ( right ) and chris brasher when he broke the mile world record the following month with a time of 3:57.9 .
his time of three minutes 59.4 seconds , set at iffley road sports ground in oxford on 6 may 1954 , stood as a record for just 46 days but his place in athletics history was assured .
bannister also won gold over the same distance at the 1954 commonwealth games and later became a leading neurologist .