Breaking the 4-minute mile – timeline
This timeline has some key dates relating to breaking the 4-minute mile. Faster, further, longer, stronger – humans breaking records.
31 May 1913
American John Paul Jones holds the first officially recorded male amateur world record for the mile (1,609.344 metres).
John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones initially showed little promise as a track athlete, yet he went on to set several world records in the mile, including the first mile record to be ratified by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1913.
15 July 1933
New Zealander Jack Lovelock holds the record for a while in the 1930s.
July 1942
Swedish Gunder Hägg holds the official world record by the end of the 1940s.
Gunder Hägg
Gunder Hägg (right) at Slottsskogsvallen in Gothenburg, Sweden. He went on to set a new world record for the mile - 4:02.6.
6 May 1954
Englishman Roger Bannister runs the first amateur sub-four minute mile.
27 January 1962
New Zealander Peter Snell holds the record for a while during the 1960s.
Sir Peter Snell
In January 1962 Snell broke the world mile record before a huge crowd at Cooks Gardens in Whanganui.
12 August 1975
New Zealander John Walker breaks the world mile record in the 1970s. His was the first mile run under 3 min 50 sec.
Sir John Walker
John Walker, a New Zealand track and field runner, holding flowers on a podium after a win in August 1975. In the 2009 New Zealand Queen's Birthday Honours, he was knighted for his services to sport and the community.
27 July 1985
Englishman Steve Cram holds the world record by the end of the 1980s.
14 August 1996
Russian Svetlana Masterkova breaks the female world record for the mile 4:12.56. No woman has yet run a sub-four minute mile.
7 July 1999
Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj breaks the world record in Rome in the 1990s. He still holds the record of 3:43.13.
12 July 2019
Sifan Hassan sets a new women's record of 4:12.33, breaking Svetlana Masterkova 23 year record.
21 July 2023
A new world record for women is set by Faith Kipyegon of Kenya when she ran 4:07.64.
19 March 2025
Fifteen-year-old Sam Ruthe from Tauranga became the youngest runner ever to break the four minute mile – with a 3:58.35 performance.
The future
You decide – the 4 minute barrier has been lowered by only 17 seconds over the last 50 years. What will it take to keep breaking the record?
Related content
Strength training is vital for an athlete’s preparation for successful participation in their chosen sport. Explore what that involves, such as the structure and physiology of muscles and biomechanics and how this has affected some athletic performances.
There are three major factors that affect how well your muscles perform: strength, power and endurance.
Energy for exercise looks at how the source of energy used to power the movement of contraction in muscles working is adenosine triphosphate (ATP) – the body’s biochemical way to store and transport energy.
