BBC Sport athletics commentator, 1983 World Championship 1500m gold medallist and former mile world record holder.
“Sir Roger was a huge inspiration to anyone of our era. I actually got to meet him in my teenage years. I got to go to the Commonwealth Games when I was 17.
“To meet him was quite daunting actually because he represented this incredible achievement. He set off this tradition which hopefully me, Seb and Steve Ovett tried to carry on around Great British middle distance running.
“I actually thought I was quite like him as an athlete in terms of his style. I wasn’t always the most elegant. In my early days I was a bit gangly.
“Sir Roger, when you see those pictures of his head thrown back and arms flailing coming down the home straight, it really resonated with me individually as well.
“There were others in between that were more closer to my age but Sir Roger Bannister was British and that was the key. That achievement was something which as a nation – I was growing up in the 1960s and 1970s – we were incredibly proud of that this guy had been a pioneer.
“I used it so often over the years to inspire me individually. I wanted to be a Great British miler following in his footsteps.”
