Mile News Tagged Diane Charles


Leather ‘heralded at last’ with Heritage Plaque in Birmingham

May 21, 2022

Pioneer, Olympian honored where she recorded the first sub-5 minute Mile by a woman

Chris Turner for World Athletics

The World Athletics Heritage Plaque honoring Diane Leather Charles, who in 1954 became the first woman to run below 5 minutes for the Mile, was presented Saturday at a ceremony...

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Diane Leather, first woman sub-5 minutes for the Mile, passes away

September 08, 2018

Legend, 1960 Olympian & record setter a pioneer of women’s running

By Peter Thompson

The world of Athletics is deeply saddened by the news that Diane Leather Charles, the first woman to run a Mile in under 5 minutes and a true running pioneer, passed peacefully on Wednesday, September 5. As...

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Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of Diane Leather Breaking the 5 Minute Mile Barrier

May 29, 2014

By Peter Thompson

This article has been published in its entirety with the author's permission. It was initially published in the 'BMC News', the Club magazine of the British Milers' Club, in Spring 2014.

Many of you reading this blog are aware of the the 60th anniversary of breaking the 4...

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Sixty years ago Diane Leather smashed world record but not sex barrier

May 27, 2014

Leather’s run was not recognized as a world record, only a world’s best, because the IAAF did not keep records above 800m for women. And that is a story in itself.

By Sean Ingle, The Guardian

Sixty years ago this May, on a crushed cinder track in the Midlands, an athlete ran into history by...

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Diane Leather’s Fantastic Sub-Five

May 08, 2014

The barrier breaker looks back on her historic sub-five Mile of 60 years ago

May 6, 1954, might be a date forever etched in history, but just 23 days after Roger Bannister’s barrier-breaking sub-four-minute Mile, a woman made a similar breakthrough.

However, whereas Bannister’s achievement is...

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First sub-5 minute woman in the Mile lends her support to Runway Runaround

March 20, 2013

An Olympian and former world record holder will be spurring runners on at this year's Runway Runaround.

By Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust

CORNWALL, England -- Diane Charles (nee Leather) from Zelah can claim three world records and was the first woman to break the five minute Mile. On Sunday...

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Return the Mile to prominence on the American & worldwide sports and cultural landscape by elevating and celebrating the Mile to create a movement.

ELEVATE
Bring Back the Mile as the premier event in the sport, and increase interest in and media coverage of the Mile for both those who love the distance as well as the general public.

CELEBRATE
Bring Back the Mile to celebrate the storied distance and to recognize the people who made and make the Mile great and to promote Mile events and the next generation of U.S. Milers.

NATIONAL MOVEMENT
Bring Back the Mile to create a national movement for the Mile as America’s Distance,
to inspire Americans to run the Mile as part of their fitness program and to replace the 1600 meters at High School State Track & Field Meets across the country.

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