Roger Bannister, the first man to run a four-minute mile, has died aged 88

He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2011

The first person to run a mile in less than four minutes, Roger Bannister, has died aged 88. He set the record in Oxford with a time of three minutes 59.4 seconds but it stood for just 46 days. Regardless, his place in sport's pantheon of heroes was assured. Ozzie John Landy bettered Bannister's record the following month with a time of 3:57.9. [caption id="attachment_166118" align="alignnone" width="3570"] Bannister clocked his first sub-four-minute mile on a cinder track with a 15mph crosswind and gusts of up to 25mph (Credit: Norman Potter)[/caption] Bannister always viewed athletics as secondary to his medical studies at the University of Oxford. He revealed he had Parkinson's in an interview with the BBC in 2014. "I have seen, and looked after, patients with so many neurological and other disorders that I am not surprised I have acquired an illness," he said at the time. "It's in the nature of things, there's a gentle irony to it."