The initiative is like running the four-minute mile: no one could do it, until someone actually did it.

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Looking back on her feat, the gymnastics equivalent of the first four-minute mile in athletics, Comaneci almost downplays her achievement.

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There will be one-mile elite races on Sunday which pays homage to the anniversary of Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute mile in 1954.

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Coe, who held the record on three separate occasions, believes the physical achievement of running a four-minute mile should never be underestimated.

BBC: SPORT | Athletics | What was the Bannister legacy?

Goldbloom points out that before Roger Banister broke the four-minute mile in 1954, few thought that anyone could run the distance so quickly.

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"It is harder to run a sub four-minute mile, in fact, than it is to run two hours and 20 minutes for the marathon, " he said.

BBC: SPORT | Athletics | What was the Bannister legacy?

For the last several years, as clock speeds have inexorably ramped up, the one-gigahertz barrier has for computer buffs taken on the significance of the sound barrier or the four-minute mile.

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It's like the four-minute mile.

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