Roger Bannister’s 4-minute Mile Stopwatch Goes to Auction

On May 6, 1954 Roger Bannister finally smashed the four-minute mark for mile times. The runner’s record breaking laps were recorded by this watch as well as just a few more to confirm the record-setting pace in history books.

The watch was auctioned last Monday in London, England for a cool £20,000 (approximately $31,000). The stopwatch is a silver Swiss chronometer. The stopwatch was made by Nero Lemania and features an outer second track for 30-seconds and a sub dial with constant seconds and 30-minute register.

It seems fitting that the watch be auctioned in England as the race took place at an athletics meet in Oxford, England. Sir Roger, along with 5 other racers, raced around the track as 3,000 spectators watched as history was made. This particular stopwatch chronometer (a particularly accurate timepiece) was utilized by the timekeeper, W.K. Burfitt. Bannister’s final time was three minutes and 58 seconds (3’58.0″). While the watch was expected to sell for £5,000-£8,000, it far exceeded that as it went to a very happy anonymous buyer.

More information on the auction can be found here on OutsideOnline.com.