The Landy Era: From Nowhere to the Top of the World (Paperback book)

The Landy Era: From Nowhere to the Top of the World (Soft Cover) By Len Johnson World-class athletics was something that happened overseas, not in Australia. And then, on 13 December 1952, John Landy ran a mile at Melbourne s Olympic Park in four minutes 2.1 seconds. In those few minutes he re-ignited the race for the sub-four minute mile and inspired a generation of Australian athletes to challenge the world at distances from 880 yards to the marathon. Urged on by influential coaches Percy Cerutty and Franz Stampfl, Landy and his distance-running mates including Les Perry, Don Macmillan, Dave Stephens, Al Lawrence, Dave Power, Albie Thomas, Herb Elliott, Ron Clarke, Ralph Doubell and Derek Clayton brought Australia international fame and success on the track, including Olympic gold. In a few short years, Landy led Australia from nowhere to the top of the world.   About the author Len Johnson has been the Melbourne Age athletics writer for over 20 years, covering five Olympics, ten world championships and five Commonwealth Games. He is also a former national-class distance runner.