John Landy was the first great Australian distance runner and the second man
in the world to break four minutes for the Mile.
Though he never won an Olympic or
Commonwealth Games Gold Medal, he remains a legendary figure in the sport of
athletics.
In early 1952, 21 year-old
John Landy began to attract attention in Australia with a number of
promising performances in middle distance events. Coached by Percy Cerutty since 1950, Landy had improved significantly on his previous bests
and it was hoped he and a small group of other improving distance runners -
Don MacMillan and Les Perry - might help raise Australian standards in these events.
On 12 January, 1952, at
Melbourne's Olympic Park, Landy posted a Mile run of 4-11.0 and also ran
3000m in 8-35.0 - just two seconds behind Don MacMillan's national record.
He was beaten by MacMillan in the 1952 Australian Mile Championship however,
and was only selected in the Helsinki Olympic team on the condition that he
pay his own way.
On tour, he clocked a 4-10
Mile and a 8-54 Two-Mile run, but failed to impress at the Olympics, being
run out of his 1500m heat after a very ordinary run of 4-14. The main
benefit of his overseas tour was to introduce him to the training ideologies
of international athletes and coaches and, on his return to Australia, he
split from Percy Cerutty and began to develop his own training routines.
He showed the benefit of these new routines
in December 1952 when he sliced nearly five seconds off the Australian
Record for the Mile with a run of 4-02.1 - just 0.7 behind the World
Record. Three days after this race, he broke national records for 1000m and
1500m in the one race.
He continued to perform at a high level
throughout 1953 - running at distances from 880y to Three Miles (5000m) but
began to feel the pressure of the media to break his record - particularly
in the Mile Event, where the race to break the four-minute barrier was
beginning to capture the attention of the world.
On 12 December, 1953, in Melbourne, Landy
set a new PB and Australian Mile Record of 4-02.0 in December, equalling
Roger Bannister's Empire Record, set earlier in the year. After the race,
it was reported he would not compete for Australia in the 1954 Empire Games
and he predicted he would never clock a four-minute mile.
'If I do so before I retire from serious
competition, it will be only luck' said Landy. He said he was tired of all
the training and had only had two months rest in the last three years,
running around fifty miles a week. Landy said he would compete seriously
until the 1954 Nationals and then he would run 'only for fun'.
At the 1954 Nationals, Landy won the Mile
easily in 4-05.6, but was unplaced in the 880y. Fortunately, he had changed
his mind about retiring and had planned an overseas tour to challenge the
four-minute mile. He arrived in Europe in early May, but on the 6th day of
the month, Roger Bannister ran 3-59.4 at Oxford University, to become the
first man in the world under four minutes for the Mile.
Landy could not approach that time in his
first few races but, with the added impetus of competition from England's
Chris Chataway in a race at Turky on 21 June, Landy smashed Bannister's
World Record with a phenomonal time of 3-57.9.
The Empire Games Mile was now described as
the 'Race of the Century'. The two barrier-breakers going head-to-head
instead of just against the clock. The race was a classic with Landy
leading all the way until he looked left in the last few hundred yards of
the race, when Bannister shot past him on the right to steal the race.
Landy accepted his defeat gracefully,
saying 'the better man won', but it was later revealed he had run with four
stitches in his foot; the result of stepping on a flash bulb in bare feet.
On his return to Australia, Landy lost
motivation and slipped into retirement when he began teaching at his old
school, Geelong Grammar. In 1955, he gradually began to run again, in the
local bush, and regained his zest for training and competition. In early
1956, he had his first race for ten months and was only beaten by inches,
over 880y, by the American World Record Holder, Lon Spurrier. He then ran
two sub four-minute miles - the first time the barrier had been beaten
inside Australia.
At the 1956 Australian Championships,
Landy's phenomonal talent and admirable sportsmanship were both on display.
During the Mile Championship, a number of athletes fell in the third lap -
junior world record-holder Ron Clarke amongst them. Landy stopped to check
if Clarke was alright and then, after some delay, decided to chase down the
leaders. It is a testament to his athletic ability that he managed to
catch them all and win the race in a time of 4-04.2. Surely one of the most
amazing races of all time.
In great form at the Championships, he also
won the Three Mile title in a national record of 13-42.2 and, soon after the
titles, sliced nearly fifteen seconds off this time to claim another
national record.
Landy was then persuaded to tour the United
States in order to publicise the Melbourne Olympics. He ran a series of
fine races, including two sub four-minute miles, but suffered injuries and
muscle soreness because of the hard American tracks. These injuries
prevented him from competing in the final Australian Olympic trials, but he
was selected in the Australian Team despite doubts about his fitness. It
was no surprise to see him named to read the Olympic Oath at the Opening
Ceremony.
He considered himself lucky to qualify for
the final of the 1500m, even though all of Australia was hoping he would win
the Gold Medal. Sitting back for most of the race, Landy saved his energy
for one final challenge into the final straight. Though he pushed himself
into the bronze medal position, he could not catch the winner Ron Delaney of
Ireland.
Landy ran in some club events over the next
year but finally retired from the track in 1957. He retired as State
Governor of Victoria in 2005.
Acknowledgement: This information
has been taken from Graham Thomas' Athletic Gold website.
http://www.geocities.com/geetee/index.html
