Franz Stampfl - The Four-Minute Mile

The Four-Minute Mile

Stampfl's coaching assisted Roger Bannister to the world's first sub four-minute mile at Oxford on 6 May 1954. Chris Chataway and Chris Brasher, who played key roles in pacing Bannister to the record, were also coached by Stampfl and his methods were adopted by, among others, the tennis player Ashley Cooper and the boxer Don Cockell who took Rocky Marciano to nine rounds in their heavyweight title fight in 1955. A humble man, the Austrian coach had ignored the hype after Bannister's Iffley Road triumph, preferring to slip away quietly and get back to London to train other athletes. He didn't need to stand around and have his picture taken by Bannister's side nor claim that the four-minute mile had been achieved through strict adherence to his coaching. The only satisfaction Stampl got from the publicity was the knowledge that it would encourage more athletes to train with him.

Stampfl's book, Franz Stampfl on Running, first published in 1955, was a great success and rated by The Times as an "admirable and enthralling text-book on training and tactics".