Former ICSSPE President Passed Away

Sir Roger Bannister, the first person to run a mile in under four minutes, died on Saturday, 3 March 2018. ICSSPE, its board under the leadership of its President Uri Schaefer, membership and staff of the Executive Office, convey condolences to his family.

Bannister’s legacy will be forever associated with his remarkable performance in 1954. A 25 year old medical student at Oxford University, Bannister, supported by fellow athletes, set out to achieve what was popularly believed to be impossible and potentially deadly: to break the 4-minutes barrier for the mile (1.6 km) race. His world record time of 3:59:4 was celebrated around the world, and opened the door to countless subsequent records and achievements.

Sir Roger was a medical doctor and followed Nobel Peace Prize Winner Philip Noel-Baker as President of ICSSPE in 1976, after having been a member on the Executive Board and leading ICSSPE’s working group of medicine and sport for a number of years. He put emphasis on ICSSPE’s research activities and started the ICSSPE Bulletin, the organisation’s sport science magazine of which the last volume was published in October 2017.

For his contribution to sport and sport medicine, Sir Roger was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. in 1975.

ICSSPE President Uri Schaefer emphasised Sir Roger’s role as a great ambassador for sport, who promoted the need for a close cooperation between the medical sector and sport practice.