- The Miles race returns to the Commonwealth Games in tribute to Roger Bannister
- The four laps contest will replace the 1500 meters in Glasgow in Nod To 1954
The Commonwealth games next year will pay tribute to the legendary Roger Bannister by including the mile in the athletics program for the first time in 60 years.
The four laps contest will replace the 1500 meters in Glasgow in a wink to the iconic race at Vancouver games in 1954, when the bannister of England was face to face with the Australian John Landy, only weeks after becoming the first person to direct a mile in less than four minutes.
Bannister beat his rival, but both broke four minutes in a meeting known as 'Miracle Mile', which will be held next summer on the council of Lord Coe, the president of World Athletics.
“The mile is the Commonwealth Athletics event of the Commonwealth par excellence, whose return is very welcome,” Coe said. 'From 1930 to 1966, the mile was the blue event of each game.
'The magic of the mile continues to resonate with sports fans. A ticket to see its Commonwealth end will be one of the essential seats in Glasgow next year.
Omitting 1500m is controversial given the global success of Scottish athletes Josh Kerr, Jake Wightman and Laura Muir in the event, but the stars of origin received an early warning of the plan to recover the mile.
Roger Bannister's feat of breaking the four -minute mile is one of the best reference points of athletics
The president of world athletics, Lord Coe, is delighted that the iconic race returns in Glasgow
Laura Muir is one of the best in the world at 1500m who has now been abandoned by the mile
Muir's new coach Steve Cram, former Mile World record holder, said: 'The mile is easy to understand. There are four laps, and it has been four minutes until Roger Bannister broke that barrier.
“The impact of what Roger did had a resonance, and it was that iconic moment that has allowed the mile to live, breathe and remain relevant.”
The inclusion of the 'Commonwealth Mile' was announced on Thursday, when Glasgow 2026 organizers published their full medal program.
Although only 10 sports are at the time of the backward games, more than 200 gold medals will be at stake, the greatest amount in the history of the event. Swimming, monitoring cycling and sports to play a record number of medals.
In addition to athletics, swimming and cycling, the other sports in Glasgow will be gymnastics, 3×3 basketball, boxing, bowls, judo, netball and weightlifting.
The Scottish city organized the games as recently as 2014, but intervened as emergency hosts after Victoria's Australian state in 2023 retired due to financial concerns.