 The 1500 m and mile run events have historically been some of the most prestigious track and field events . Swedish rivals Gunder Hägg and Arne Andersson broke each other 's 1500 m and mile world records on a number of occasions in the 1940s . The prominence of the distances were maintained by Roger Bannister , who ( in 1954 ) was the first to run the long @-@ elusive four @-@ minute mile , and Jim Ryun 's exploits served to popularise interval training . Races between British rivals Sebastian Coe , Steve Ovett and Steve Cram characterised middle @-@ distance running in the 1980s . From the 1990s onwards , North Africans such as Noureddine Morceli of Algeria and Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco came to dominate the 1500 and mile events . 
