Stats nazi wrote:
Gotta bee wrote:I would assume so maybe someone can find splits
To be a sub-4:00 mile there has to be
(a) an official finish time for a race that was at least one mile long; or, an official split at a distance of one mile or later in the race; and,
(b) that time has to be less than 4:00.
Point (a) means that 1600 meter times or splits do not count. That's less than a mile. It seems unlikely that official mile (as opposed to 1600 meter) splits are available from a 2000-meter race on what was presumably a 200-meter track.
Point (b) means that even if a mile split was taken, if the 4:57 was the result of a 57.0 final 391 meters (about 58.5 for 400 - completely possible) it would not count as a sub-4:00 mile.
I don't think anyone questions that, if you take their ages at face value, the African runners who have set World Youth records from 800 up to 10000 could easily have broken 4:00 for the mile before age 17. If the question is "Who is the youngest person who was capable of running sub-4:00 for a mile?" it would be silly to even put up a picture of Jim Ryun.
That wasn't the question. If you want to offer a different answer to the question that was asked, give a MILE result that is less than 4:00 by someone who was younger than 17 years 37 days old.
100% false. It was a sub 4 mile, that is beyond contestation. To count for records you need to meet those standards, not the same thing at all.