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Sixty years ago Diane Leather smashed world record but not sex barrier Sixty years ago Diane Leather smashed world record but not sex barrier
(35 minutes later)
Sixty years ago this May, on a crushed cinder track in the midlands, an athlete gallops into history by lowering the world mile record under a significant mark. But here the story – and perhaps your expectations – takes a different fork. The date is 29 May, not 6 May, 1954. The venue Birmingham not Oxford. And the runner with textbook-straight back and elbows jabbing at sour-faced skies is Diane Leather, a 21-year-old analytical chemist at the University of Birmingham, the first women to break the five-minute barrier for the mile. Sixty years ago this May, on a crushed cinder track in the Midlands, an athlete ran into history by lowering the world mile record under a significant mark. But here the story – and perhaps your expectations – takes a different fork. The date is 29 May, not 6 May, 1954. The venue Birmingham not Oxford. And the runner with textbook‑straight back and elbows jabbing at sour-faced skies is Diane Leather, a 21-year-old analytical chemist at the University of Birmingham, the first women to break the five-minute barrier for the mile.
Three weeks earlier, Roger Bannister celebrated his sub-four-minute mile with fizz at Vincent’s Club at Oxford University, before heading up to London where he appeared on Sportsview, went nightclubbing until 2am, and saw his name stretched across the front pages on the way home. Leather’s achievement did not even merit a sentence in the Observer or Sunday Times. Three weeks earlier, Roger Bannister celebrated his sub-four-minute mile with fizz at Vincent’s Club at Oxford University, before heading up to London where he appeared on Sportsview, went nightclubbing until 2am, and saw his name stretched across the front pages on the way home. Leather’s achievement did not even merit a sentence in the Observer or Sunday Times.
“There was a bit of attention,” Leather – or Diane Charles as she now is – told me at the weekend. “At least locally.” But in the high era of Boy’s Own and Brilliantine, women’s athletics was often an afterthought – if it was thought about at all. Staggeringly, Leather’s run was not recognised as a world record, only a world’s best, because the IAAF did not keep records above 800m for women. And that is a story in itself.“There was a bit of attention,” Leather – or Diane Charles as she now is – told me at the weekend. “At least locally.” But in the high era of Boy’s Own and Brilliantine, women’s athletics was often an afterthought – if it was thought about at all. Staggeringly, Leather’s run was not recognised as a world record, only a world’s best, because the IAAF did not keep records above 800m for women. And that is a story in itself.
The policy stemmed from the first time the women’s 800m was included at the 1928 Olympics. After the final, several athletes collapsed, just as they might do today. But interpretations from newspapers such as the Times – which warned that “the half-dozen prostrate and obviously distressed forms lying about on the grass at the side of the track may not warrant a complete condemnation of the girl athletics championships, but it certainly suggests unpleasant possibilities” – and the Daily Mail, which claimed that women who raced more than 200m would age prematurely, became proscriptions. The policy stemmed from the first time the women’s 800m was included at the 1928 Olympics. After the final, several athletes collapsed, just as they might do today. But interpretations from newspapers such as the Times – which warned that “the half-dozen prostrate and obviously distressed forms lying about on the grass at the side of the track may not warrant a complete condemnation of the girl athletics championships, but it certainly suggests unpleasant possibilities” – and the Daily Mail, which claimed that women who raced more than 200m would age prematurely, became proscriptions.
After that race, women were not able to run beyond 200m at the Olympics until 1960, and further than 1500m until 1984. Even though, as the historian Lynne Duval of Staffordshire University has shown, the decision was based on hysteria not hard fact.After that race, women were not able to run beyond 200m at the Olympics until 1960, and further than 1500m until 1984. Even though, as the historian Lynne Duval of Staffordshire University has shown, the decision was based on hysteria not hard fact.
Several eyewitnesses to that 800m race in 1928, including Harold Abrahams – the 1924 Olympic 100m champion immortalised in Chariots of Fire – reported that the women quickly recovered and any tears were “not due to the physical exertion but to the simple psychological disappointment of being beaten”.Several eyewitnesses to that 800m race in 1928, including Harold Abrahams – the 1924 Olympic 100m champion immortalised in Chariots of Fire – reported that the women quickly recovered and any tears were “not due to the physical exertion but to the simple psychological disappointment of being beaten”.
Throughout her career Leather blazed a hot trail through this physiological mumbo-jumbo. Indeed on that Whitsun Saturday in 1954 her time of 4min 59.6sec came after she had run an 800m race earlier in the afternoon. Throughout her career Leather blazed a hot trail through this physiological mumbo-jumbo. Indeed on that Whitsun Saturday in 1954 her time of 4min 59.6sec came after she had run an 800m race earlier in the afternoon.
Leather is 81 now, although she could pass for a decade younger, and her memories of the day are understandably cloudy. She was wearing the all-black of her club, Birchfield Harriers, which she joined to get fit for hockey. She prepared by running hard intervals of mostly 150m or 400m five times a week, with every session monitored by her coach Dorette Nelson-Neale. And she thinks she was fuelled by kippers for lunch. She certainly was before one of her world-beating runs – the trouble is, there were just so many. Leather is 81 now, although she could pass for a decade younger, and her memories of the day are understandably cloudy. She was wearing the all-black of her club, Birchfield Harriers, which she joined to get fit for hockey. She prepared by running hard intervals of mostly 150m or 400m five times a week, with every session monitored by her coach Dorette Nelson-Neale. And she thinks she was fuelled by kippers for lunch. She certainly was before one of her world‑beating runs – the trouble is, there were just so many.
Over the next year Charles chiselled away at her mile record until it had dropped to 4:45.0 – a time that stood for seven years. She also broke three world records over a glorious nine-month period between September 1953 and June 1954: twice in the 3x880-yard relay and also in the 880 yards. And her personal best of 2:06 in the 800m would still be decent today, particularly when you subtract the 1-1.5 seconds per lap you lose on a cinder track. Over the next year Charles chiselled away at her mile record until it had dropped to 4:45.0 – a time that stood for seven years. She also broke three world records over a glorious nine-month period between September 1953 and June 1954: twice in the 3x880‑yard relay and also in the 880 yards. And her personal best of 2:06 in the 800m would still be decent today, particularly when you subtract the 1-1.5 seconds per lap you lose on a cinder track.
“It was a sad thing that the mile wasn’t ratified as a world record, and wasn’t any event longer than 200m at the Olympics back then,” she said before Saturday’s Westminster Mile, which named a trophy in her honour. “But I will always have the two 800m silver medals I won in the European Championships in 1954 and 1958.” “It was a sad thing that the mile wasn’t ratified as a world record, and wasn’t any event longer than 200m at the Olympics back then,” she said before Saturday’s Westminster Mile, which named a trophy in her honour. “But I will always have the two 800m silver medals I won in the European Championships in 1954 and 1958.”
There was an Olympic Games too, in Fellini’s Rome in 1960, but by then Leather’s best days were behind her. She never got to run at the biggest competitions at her favourite event. “I don’t know whether it was sexism,” she says now. “It was just one of those things.” There was an Olympic Games too, in Fellini’s Rome in 1960, but by then Leather’s best days were behind her. She never got to run at the biggest competitions at her favourite event. “I don’t know whether it was sexism,” she says now. “It was just one of those things.”
Certainly the Women’s Amateur Athletics Association (WAAA) didn’t always believe all publicity was helpful. As late as 1956 Leather’s trainer Nelson-Neale argued that a WAAA rule preventing use of athlete’s name or picture being used for publicity should stay, as it was “still very necessary to prevent young athletes being foolish with irresponsible press photographers, who even at the White City track tried to get girls to do stunts after winning a title”. Certainly the Women’s Amateur Athletics Association didn’t always believe all publicity was helpful. As late as 1956 Leather’s trainer Nelson-Neale argued that a WAAA rule preventing use of athlete’s name or picture being used for publicity should stay, as it was “still very necessary to prevent young athletes being foolish with irresponsible press photographers, who even at the White City track tried to get girls to do stunts after winning a title”.
Times have, thankfully, changed but Leather’s name remains unknown to most outside athletics’ hard core. But the 60th anniversary of her sub-five-minute mile, this Thursday, should be a trumpet-blast for the nation to be reacquainted with this track pioneer. Times have, thankfully, changed but Leather’s name remains unknown to most outside athletics’ hard core. But the 60th anniversary of her sub‑five‑minute mile, this Thursday, should be a trumpet-blast for the nation to be reacquainted with this track pioneer.
Yes, her 4:59.6 run will never be held in the same magical, mystical regard as Bannister’s 3:59.4. But, in its own quiet way, it was just as myth shattering. Yes, her 4:59.6 run will never be held in the same magical, mystical regard as Bannister’s 3:59.4. But, in its own quiet way, it was just as myth-shattering.