Athletics Is A Luxury.

We Run, Not Because We Think It Is Doing Us Good, But Because We Enjoy It And Cannot Help Ourselves...the More Restricted Our Society And Work Become, The More Necessary It Will Be To Find Some Outlet For This Craving For Freedom. No One Can Say, 'you Must Not Run Faster Than This, Or Jump Higher Than That.' The Human Spirit Is Indomitable.

Whether We Athletes Liked It Or Not, The 4-minute Mile Had Become Rather Like An Everest: A Challenge To The Human Spirit, It Was A Barrier That Seemed To Defy All Attempts To Break It, An Irksome Reminder That Men's Striving Might Be In Vain.

When I Was About To Break A World Record And Become Well Known, My Mother Used To Say That For Her The Important Thing Was For Me To Become A Doctor - A Career Which Had Not Been Possible In Her Generation And In Her Society. Sport Was Something To Be Set Aside.

My Family Actually Lived In The Same Village For About 400 Years. They Had Great Stability Until The Last Century. People Lived And Intermarried In Small Villages.

Sport, Like All Of Life, Is About Taking Your Chances.