McWhirter’s four-minute-mile stopwatch clocks up five figures at auction

On May 6, 1954 - the day British middle-distance athlete Roger Bannister (1929-2018) ran the first ever sub-four-minute mile - there were five official timekeepers plus a sixth watch manned by race commentator Norris McWhirter (1925-2004).

All using ‘best in class’ Swiss stopwatches, they agreed a time of 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds.

As a …

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