Bring Back The Mile Salutes Jim Beatty (Video)

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. ‰ÛÓ (February 9, 2012) ‰ÛÓ On February 10, 1962 in Los Angeles, American Jim Beatty became the first man to break 4 minutes for the Mile indoors, nearly 8 years after Great Britain’s Roger Bannister
broke the thought impossible 4-minute Mile barrier. Beatty’s time was
3:58.9 and his thrilling performance was televised on ABC’s Wide World
of Sports.

“We salute Jim Beatty and still marvel at his historic achievement,” said Ryan Lamppa,
Bring Back the Mile Founder. “One of the Bring Back the Mile objectives
is to celebrate people such as Jim Beatty who have made the Mile such a
storied event.”

At bringbackthemile.com, there is an exclusive interview by BBTM’s Duncan Larkin with Jim Beatty and his account of the landmark feat, along with the full YouTube video of his exciting indoor record run at the Sports Arena in Los Angeles.

The
Mile holds a special place in Track & Field and beyond because no
running distance, or field event for that matter, has the history, the
appeal, the “magic” of the Mile. The first sub-4 minute mile by Great
Britain’s Roger Bannister in 1954 is regarded as the greatest individual
athletic achievement of the 20th century, and no other event has
produced an equivalent of the sub-4 minute Mile standard in the sport,
in the media and in the public’s mind.

Unfortunately, the Mile has lost some of its luster over the past decade, and the Bring Back the Mile mission is: To
return the Mile to prominence on the American sports and cultural
landscape by elevating and celebrating the Mile to create a national
movement.