There’s a place in England that saw the highest jump, fastest run, the first game, the biggest crowd – these ordinary places in our communities represent England’s amazing sporting history.
Here we take a look at 5 places that have seen amazing sporting achievements.
1. Roger Bannister Running Track (formerly Iffley Road Track), Oxford
On 6 May 1954, Roger Bannister became the first person to break the 4-minute mile. At the time the track was called Iffley Road Track and Bannister was a 25-year-old full-time medical student. He trained for just 45 minutes a day for the amateur athletics event, which drew a crowd of around 3,000 spectators. The roar of the crowd drowned out the announcement that Bannister had run the mile in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds – a world record he held for just 46 days.
2. Wembley Stadium, London
Although football was invented in the UK, the only trophy won by a British team during an international football competition was the World Cup in 1966 at Wembley.
The original stadium then called The Empire Exhibition Stadium, opened its doors in 1923. It was the site of the 1948 Olympic Games – the first games to take place after a 12-year hiatus because of the Second World War.
Built on the site of the old stadium, the new Wembley opened in 2007, with a capacity of 90,000 making it the second-largest in Europe.
3. Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol
Linking Bristol and North Somerset across the Avon Gorge, the Clifton Suspension Bridge was designed by one of the most prolific figures in engineering history, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It opened in 1864 and is funded entirely by tolls.
It is also famed for being the site of the first modern bungee jump. On 1 April 1979, David Kirke, Geoff Tabin and Simon Keeling leapt from the 250 ft bridge and were arrested shortly after. The members of Oxford University Dangerous Sports Club continued to jump off of other famous landmarks including the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, spreading their love for bungee jumping worldwide.
4. Court 18, Wimbledon, London
The 2010 Wimbledon championships saw the world’s longest match at the world’s oldest tennis tournament. In the first round, American John Isner took on French player Nicolas Mahut in a match that spanned 11 hours over 3 days! Isner won at 4.47 pm on the final day.
The second-longest tennis match lasted just over 7 hours.
5. Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London
The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games saw 10,500 athletes take part in 26 sports, inspiring the world with feats of astonishing athleticism. The games took place across 34 venues, the central hub of activity being at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park which saw up to 180,000 spectators each day.
Team GB’s Ellie Simmonds, a British Paralympian swimmer, took home two gold medals and set a world record in the 400m freestyle. Athlete Victoria Pendleton beat the Olympic Record for Women’s sprint cycling, and Jamaican Usain Bolt beat the Olympic Record for the Men’s 100m. In an unforgettable double win, British distance runner Mo Farah secured a gold medal for the 5,000 and 10,000-metre races.
A generation of future athletes can now use these world-class facilities, and imagine the amazing things that happened there.
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