The running shoes worn by Sir Roger Bannister when he became the first man to break the four-minute mile have sold for £266,500 at auction, more than five times the expected amount.
Sir Roger clocked three minutes 59.4 seconds in the historic race at Iffley Road Track in Oxford on 6 May 1954 when he was a 25-year-old medical student.
Christie’s said in May the shoes were expected to fetch between £30,000 and £50,000.
The thin leather running spikes which weigh just four and a half ounces were snapped up by an anonymous buyer at the auction in South Kensington, London.
The shoes, made by GT Law and Son, were much lighter than other shoes at the time. Bannister said: “I could see there was an advantage in having the shoe as light as possible.”
“The leather is extremely thin and the spikes are unusually thin, as I used a grindstone to make them even thinner. These shoes are the last tangible link I have with the four-minute mile. All my trophies are now on display at Pembroke College, Oxford, where I was Master.”
Christie’s said earlier Bannister was expected to donate some of the proceeds to a charity for medical research. “I think it’s the right time to part with them and I plan to give part of the proceeds to the Autonomic Charitable Trust which encourages the area of neurological research to which I have devoted most of my life,” he said. “Other worthwhile causes in which I have an interest will also benefit.”
Bannister is now 86 and lives in Oxford. He is coping with the effects of Parkinson’s.
Press Association and Associated Press contributed to this report
