The Resume

(March 23, 1929-March 3, 2018)
Became the first person to run a mile in less than 4 minutes (May 6, 1954)
‘Sports Illustrated' magazine's first ‘Sportsman of the Year' (1954)
Retired from competitive running (December, 1954) and became a neurosurgeon
Wrote ‘The First Four Minutes' (1956) and the textbook ‘Clinical Neurology' (1980)
Knighted (1975)

Why he might be annoying:

He disappointed British track enthusiasts when he decided not to compete at the London Olympics (1948).
When he finished fourth in the 1500-meters at the 1952 Olympics, the British media blamed his rejection of conventional training and coaching methods.
He said that his fame from running was ‘a grave disadvantage' in his medical career because ‘people in academia looked down their noses at sport.'

Why he might not be annoying:

His schedule as a medical student left him only 45 minutes a day to train for the mile run.
He commented, ‘The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.'
Asked if the four-minute mile was the most important achievement of his life, he said that he considered his contributions to neurology more significant.
As head of Sport England, he initiated testing for anabolic steroids.

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Athlete/M.D.s
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 02]
• Channel 4's 100 Greatest Sporting Moments [Britain - January, 2002] (Ranked: 13)
• I Attended Oxford
• I Died in 2018 (Ranked: 88)
• Knights
• Life Magazine's Top 100 People of the Millennium [2000] (Ranked: 92)
• Look at My Autographed Photo
• Profiles 19251-19500 (Ranked: 19439)
• Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year (Ranked: 1954)
• Sports Illustrated's 100 Greatest Moments in Sports History (Ranked: 18)
• Track and Field
• We Celebrated Our Golden Anniversary
• We Died on the Same Day (Ranked: 20180303)

Year In Review:

For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 28.57% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 72 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 9 Votes: 22.22% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 15 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
In 2011, Out of 14 Votes: 14.29% Annoying
In 2010, Out of 23 Votes: 30.43% Annoying
In 2009, Out of 42 Votes: 40.48% Annoying
In 2008, Out of 38 Votes: 31.58% Annoying
In 2007, Out of 251 Votes: 43.82% Annoying
In 2006, Out of 15 Votes: 40.0% Annoying