Breaking barriers: A timeline of men’s and women’s mile records

By Canadian Press on June 26, 2025.

PARIS (AP) — Despite not being on the Olympic program, where races follow metric measurements, the mile holds certain prestige in the world of middle-distance running.

Faith Kipyegon fell short of further cementing her place in mile-running history when she failed to become the first woman to run the distance in under 4 minutes in a Nike-sponsored event in Paris on Thursday.

Here’s a look at some of the key moments in the record progression in men’s and women’s mile runs:

May 6, 1954: Medical student Roger Bannister becomes the first man to run a sub-4-minute mile during a track meet in Oxford, England, finishing in 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds.

May 29, 1954: Diane Leather becomes the first woman to run the mile in under 5 minutes, finishing in 4:59.6 during the Midland Counties Championships in Birmingham, England.

June 3, 1967: Anne Smith of Britain sets two world records in one race: 4:17.3 for the 1,500 meters and 4:37.0 for the mile (1,609 meters).

June 23, 1967: U.S. athlete Jim Ryun runs the mile in 3:51.1 His world record will hold for nearly eight years.

Aug. 12, 1975: John Walker of New Zealand runs the mile in 3:49.4 at a race in Göteborg, Sweden, becoming the first athlete to finish the distance in under 3:50.

July 27, 1985: Steve Cram sets a new world record at 3:46.32. It was the last of three mile records at Bislett Stadium in Oslo by Cram and fellow Britons Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett during a span of six years.

Aug. 14, 1996: Svetlana Masterkova of Russia sets a new women’s record of 4:12.56. She will hold it for nearly 23 years.

July 7, 1999: Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco smashes the world record in the mile at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome with a time of 3:43.13. The record still stands.

July 21, 2023: Faith Kipyegon breaks the women’s mile record at a Diamond League event in Monaco, clocking 4:07.64 in the Herculis Meeting at Stade Louis II to shatter the 4:12.33 set by long-time rival Sifan Hassan, on the same track in 2019.

June 26, 2025: Kipyegon fails in her bid to become the first woman to run a mile in under four minutes. She clocks 4 minutes, 06.42 seconds, surpassing her world record of 4:07.64. However, the time won’t be officially recognized as the event was unofficial.

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Samuel Petrequin, The Associated Press