The Miracle Mile: Stories of the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games By Jason Beck Paperback 1987915003 9781987915006 The Miracle Mile: Stories of the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver changed both the city and world sport forever. The Games will always be remembered for the Miracle Mile, the much anticipated showdown between the first two men to break the four minute barrier, Englands Roger Bannister and Australias John Landy. But as the press focused the worlds attention on Vancouver, and Bannister outpaced Landy in the stretch, fate found an even dramatic story that seared itself into the memories of all who saw it. Englands Jim Peters, the world record holder in the marathon, entered Empire Stadium at the end of a brutal twenty six mile run, collapsing repeatedly before a medic stopped him two hundred yards from the finish line. These two stories brought the Games to a stirring conclusion on its final day Saturday, August 7, 1954 but there were many other extraordinary moments throughout the events. A group of novice UBC rowers pulled off the biggest upset in Games history on the Fraser Valleys Vedder Canal. Australias Marjorie Jackson Nelson, the fastest woman in history, blasted down the track one final time to remain undefeated in international competition, an unprecedented accomplishment before and since. Emmanuel Ifeajuna, a little known high jumper from Nigeria, surprised the world when he won Africas first ever international gold medal. He later masterminded a bloody coup that plunged his nation into devastating civil war. Every single day offered up unbelievable tales of glory and grief. As one 1954 billboard boldly proclaimed, the Games were a week youll remember a lifetime!

The miracle mile epub read online

I first became aware of Jason Beck and his obsession with British Columbia sports history when I profiled him as part of my communications job as a successful alumnus of the University of the Fraser Valley His passion for this subject was partly inspired by taking a course in sports history at UFV But he had long been interested in BC sports and in particular the 1954 Empire Games held in Vancouver a defining moment in our city s history Perhaps what s most interesting about this book is Beck s passion for telling the story of an athletic event that occurred 28 years before he was born As a farm kid growing up in the Fraser Valley he heard about the Empire Games rowing event that was held on nearby Vedder Canal and his interest was piqued And that interest is infectious As a fan of both sports and BC community history I found a fellow extreme enthusiast in Beck He toiled for a decade on this book researching and writing it as he took the train in from the Valley to his Vancouver curator job at the BC Sports Hall of Fame He conducted interviews with as many surviving athletes as he could as well as organizers of the games. The miracle mile los angeles The end result is a fond portrayal of a turning point in Vancouver s history and a recap of the games that tells the story of the athletic events themselves but also the athletes It includes a buildup to the famous Miracle Mile in which Roger Bannister and John Landy both ran sub 4 minute miles the first time two runners did so in a race as well as stories about the darkhorse Canadian rowing team that took the gold medal on home waters power lifter Doug Hepburn and marathoner Jim Peters who collapsed and nearly died before crossing the finish line Beck has obvious affection for all these real life characters and even follows up in the last chapter with a what happened after the games look at several of them. The miracle mile epub read online This is not a I can t put it down book It s one to visit occasionally a chapter at a time I read the rowing chapter in one long drive to the Okanagan as a passenger and was drawn into the narrative and felt like I too was on the banks of the Vedder Canal back in 1954 In fact it took me over a year to finish the book as I delved into it only when I had an hour or so to spare to do a chapter justice Highly recommended for anyone who loves a good sports story or is curious about what Vancouver was like 60 years ago Well done Mr Beck Paperback

The Miracle Mile: Stories of the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games By Jason Beck

1987915003

9781987915006

English

288

Paperback

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The 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver changed both the city and world sport forever The Games will always be remembered for the Miracle Mile the much anticipated showdown between the first two men to break the four minute barrier England s Roger Bannister and Australia s John Landy But as the press focused the world s attention on Vancouver and Bannister outpaced Landy in the stretch fate found an even dramatic story that seared itself into the memories of all who saw it England s Jim Peters the world record holder in the marathon entered Empire Stadium at the end of a brutal twenty six mile run collapsing repeatedly before a medic stopped him two hundred yards from the finish line These two stories brought the Games to a stirring conclusion on its final day Saturday August 7 1954 but there were many other extraordinary moments throughout the events A group of novice UBC rowers pulled off the biggest upset in Games history on the Fraser Valley s Vedder Canal Australia s Marjorie Jackson Nelson the fastest woman in history blasted down the track one final time to remain undefeated in international competition an unprecedented accomplishment before and since Emmanuel Ifeajuna a little known high jumper from Nigeria surprised the world when he won Africa s first ever international gold medal He later masterminded a bloody coup that plunged his nation into devastating civil war Every single day offered up unbelievable tales of glory and grief As one 1954 billboard boldly proclaimed the Games were a week you ll remember a lifetime The Miracle Mile Stories of the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.