John Landy, Australian athletics great and former Victorian governor, dies aged 91

One of Australia's greatest athletes, John Landy, has died at the age of 91.

The middle-distance legend, the second man to break the four-minute mile barrier, passed away at his home in Castlemaine, Victoria, on Thursday surrounded by his family after a long battle with Parkinson's.

Landy, a figure of huge integrity and class, was responsible for the finest and most selfless Australian sporting moment of the 20th century.

During the Australian Mile Championship at Melbourne's Olympic Park in 1956, with about a lap and a half to go, young compatriot Ron Clarke tripped and fell.

Landy leapt over Clarke and then turned back to help his rival to his feet as the field rushed past him.

After checking on Clarke, he got going again, circled the field and won a race that assured him a place in the Australian Olympic team.

It was voted the «Finest Sporting Moment of the Century» in 1999 by the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, but he said he would have preferred to be remembered as simply a good runner.

He also became the 26th Governor of Victoria, worked on the Australian Sports Commission, wrote extensively about nature, and was even responsible for one of Australia's finest butterfly collections.

But it was for his athletic prowess that Landy first came to prominence.

He initially took up competitive running to help him get fit for football, only becoming serious about it after making the Victorian athletics team in 1951.

Within 12 months he was on the Australian team for the Helsinki Olympics, and a couple of years later became deeply engaged in a battle with Englishman Roger Bannister to become the first man to run a mile in under four minutes.

Ultimately, Bannister won that «race», stopping the clock in a state of near-collapse at 3