Fastest Mile Times

The record for the fastest mile times run by humans might not seem like much to the average person, but it is a great accomplishment. The fastest humans to run the mile in modern times have been recorded since 1865. Then Roger Bannister came along in 1954 and ran the mile in 3:59.4, he was the first human to be recorded as doing such in under  four minutes. Here is the list of the fastest humans to run the mile in recent history.

1. Hicham El Guerrouj (3:43.13). Guerrouj is from Morocco, he has won both gold (2004) and silver (2000) Olympic medals in the 1500m races as well as a  gold medal at the 2000 Olympics for the 5000m race. On July 7, 1999 Hicham broke Noureddine Morceli's 1993 record mile run of 3:44.39 by finishing the run in 3:43.13. Hicham also holds the 2000m world record.
2. Noureddine Morceli (3:44.39). Algerian born Morceli took the 1500m gold medal in the 1996 Olympics, he dominated the 1500m races between 1990 and 1992. Noureddine won the 1991 1500m world title, and the following year he set a new 1500m record. On September 5,1993 Morceli broke the mile record which had stood for eight years by finishing in 3:44.39, smashing the record by almost two seconds.
3. Steve Cram (3:46.31). Steve is the winner of the 1984 Olympic silver medal in the 1500m race, he is from Great Britain. Between June and August of 1985 Steve set three world records in the 800 and 2000m races, seven of Cram's races in that time period were personal best performances. Steve was also the first man to run the 100m race in under 3:30. It was in Oslo in 1985 when Steve broke the standing record for the mile by running it in 3:46.32, completing the last lap in just 54.2 seconds.
4. Sebastian Coe (3:47.33). Coe is also from Great Britain. Sebastian was the gold medal winner in the 1500m races of both the 1980 and 1984 Olympics, as well as the silver medal winner of the 800m races of the 1980 and 1984 Olympics. In Brussels on August 28, 1981 Coe competed in the "golden mile," where he broke his own record for the race, completing it in 3:47.33, he was the first ever to run it in under 3:48 seconds.
5. Steve Ovett (3:48.40). The record for the fastest mile went back and forth between Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe for three years. Steve was the first British runner to finish the mile in under 3:50, he won a gold medal at the 1980 Olympics in the 800m race. During 1981 in Koblenz W. Germany Steve broke Sebastian Coe's record setting mile run of 3:48.53 by finishing at 3:48.40.