Saturday, September 29, 2007

Breaking Psychological Barriers

Before 1954, running a sub four-minute mile was considered to be impossible according to physiologists at that time. It was thought that a four-minute mile was the physical limit of the human body.

When Englands' Roger Bannister ran a 3:59.4 to break the world record, he not only broke a physical barrier but he also broke a psychological barrier as well.

Australian John Landy, who was considered to be the premier miler of that era, was at a restaurant in Helsinki when news came to him of Bannister's achievement.

"I had got into this frame (of mind) where I had easily the best performances. Bannister had only run 4:02 once. I'd done it six times. I was staggered. I thought: 'Wow, what an amazing performance', but I was pretty positive. I th View the rest of this article


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