Bill Nankeville

George William "Bill" Nankeville (born 24 March 1925) is a British national champion mile runner and won the AAA mile title four times in five years between 1948 and 1952, his best recorded time was 4:08.8 set in 1949. Roger Bannister interrupted his run of success in 1951. He was born in Guildford, Surrey;[1] His father was a milkman.[2]

Bill Nankeville
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Great Britain
European Championships
1950 Brussels1500 m

Nankeville, Don Seaman, Roger Bannister and Chris Chataway set a world record time of 16 minutes 41 seconds for the 4x1 mile on 1 August 1953, as well as the world record 15:27.2 for the 4x1500 metres on 23 September 1953 running with Ralph Dunkley, David Law and Gordon Pirie. Nankeville represented Great Britain in the 1948 and 1952 Olympic Games, finishing sixth with a time of 3:52.6 in the 1948 1500 metres final.[1][3]

Alongside his athletic endeavours, Nankeville worked for a sports equipment manufacturer, as well as being a wholesaler and owner of three discount stores.[2] Nankeville recorded the events leading to Roger Bannister's historic sub-four-minute mile in his book 'The Miracle of the Mile' published in 1956. He was married to Janet (d. 2010) for 63 years.[2] He is the father of TV impressionist Bobby Davro.[4] In 2013 he was awarded the Englishman of the Year award at the St George's Day Club Luncheon held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London [5]

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Bill Nankeville". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  2. Best & Worst: Bill Nankeville
  3. British World Record Breakers
  4. "BBC - EastEnders - Characters & Cast - Bobby Davro". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 27 April 2009.
  5. "Englishman of the Year". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2013.



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