Sir Roger Bannister returned to the site of his greatest sporting achievement as he started day 53 in the journey of the Olympic flame.
Sir Roger was joined by London 2012 chairman Lord Coe at the Iffley Road track in Oxford where he broke the magical four-minute mile barrier on May 6, 1954.
Sir Roger said: "It's an honour to be included in a list of torch carriers which has included injured soldiers back from Afghanistan and other places, and I'm glad that it's taking place on this track in Oxford where I ran the four-minute mile in 1954.
"It brings back happy memories and it also brings back some remembering of the weather. Today it looks like it might rain and that day the weather was so bad that I nearly decided not to attempt it.
"In retrospect I'm glad because if I hadn't attempted it that day I might not have had another chance.
"In a way I'm back in the sport that I belong to. I spent 10 years training before I broke the four-minute mile. I send my best wishes to all those who are training now and are competing in the Olympics in London."
Lord Coe said: "It's very special. Roger has done so much inside British sport.
"Breaking the four-minute mile as a mark of athletic achievement sits central in the history of our sport. He paved the way for what we did in the late 70s and early 80s."
Hundreds of people watched as 83-year-old Sir Roger carried the flame along the athletics track before handing the torch to student Nicola Byrom.
The 25-year-old, from Oxford, was chosen to carry the torch after launching Student Run Self Help - a voluntary organisation which provides self-help groups across the country for people with eating disorders.
Nicola, who is studying for a doctorate in experimental psychology at Brasenose College, has raised more than £60,000 for the programme since it began in 2009.
A host of sporting celebrities will carry the flame as it travels 87 miles and is transported by 111 torch bearers in total.
The flame will travel from Oxford via Henley-on-Thames where five-times Olympic gold medallist Sir Steve Redgrave will carry it in a boat to the Leander Club, the prestigious rowing club.
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh will watch the final handover of the torch at Windsor Castle.
