Bannister is one of the few names in track known by a public that has no interest in the sport. You - and the general public - wouldn't know who he was if he had merely made an incremental improvement in the progression of times for his event. In sporting terms, his achievement was seen in a similar light to the later event of putting a man on the moon, however inevitable that "small step" may have been. Arguing against history, as you do, doesn't change it. Like the moon landing, it was also seen as a step for mankind. To argue otherwise is both historically ignorant and churlish. But typical Letsrun.