1ST AUG 2014Subrata Dass

Questions nahi bhejne waalon

WHATS HAPPENING

John Landy tries to check out where Roger Bannisters Shadow is while Bannister overtakes him from the other side .

One thing Landy kept to himself was his race strategy but he had a clear vision of what he had to do to take the sting out of Bannister’s renowned sprint.

“I was going to run from the front, I was going to break the four-minute mile, and I was going to break my world record,’’ said Landy, now 84, as he reflected on the race at his Melbourne home last week.

“It was very high risk strategy and I knew I only had a 50-50 chance of pulling it off, but that was what I believed I needed to do and that is how I believed the race should be run.”

The Australian took the lead midway through the first lap and had the crowd roaring as he scorched through the half-mile in 1.58.6 and opened up a 10m lead.

Bannister made up the ground in the penultimate lap and as they received the bell the Miracle Mile was perfectly set up.

Landy charged down the back straight and, unable to hear Bannister due to the noise, believed he was opening up a break.

“Along the back straight, the sun was shining in such a way that the two shadows were clear and it looked as though I was pulling away,’’ Landy recalled.

“I thought I was about 15m in front.”

In fact Bannister was right on his tail.

As the Australian looked over his left shoulder entering the home straight, Bannister surged past on the right and sprinted to victory in 3.58.8. Both men dipped under four-minutes.

Landy’s glance to the left became folklore.

WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE

Apparently it all goes back to Yuri Gagarin, the first man ever to undertake a spaceflight. Legend has it that he took a pitstop on the right rear tire of the bus taking him to the launch pad on April 12, 1961. Though it was probably done out of necessity and not the desire to start a quirky tradition, the man's a national hero, and other cosmonauts started to emulate him. Five decades later, they're still boldly going ... so to speak.

WHATS HAPPENING

The Legend of the Octopus is a sports tradition during Detroit Red Wings home playoff games where octopuses are thrown onto the ice surface. The origins of the activity go back to the 1952 playoffs, when a National Hockey League team played two best-of-seven series to capture the Stanley Cup. The octopus, having eight arms, symbolized the number of playoff wins necessary for the Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup. The practice started April 15, 1952 when Pete and Jerry Cusimano, brothers and storeowners in Detroit's Eastern Market, hurled an octopus into the rink of The Old Red Barn. The team swept the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens en route to winning the championship, as well as winning two of the next three championships

CONNECT

No Peanuts in the Shell: An old superstition that dates back to the racing era before World War II, peanuts in the shell are almost never sold at or around a NASCAR event. Peanut shells are considered bad luck and according to racing lore, peanut shells were always found in the smoldering remnants of a badly wrecked car.

No $50 Bills: While the legend says that two $50 bills were found in the shirt pocket of champion racer Joe Weatherby after he was killed in a crash in 1964, no one knows how much the tale is rooted in truth. Regardless, $50 bills are non grata in NASCAR. 

Nakizumo, which literally translates as "crying baby sumo," is held throughout the country every year and involves student sumo wrestlers trying to make babies cry like, well, babies.

Before you ask, the sumo wrestlers don't use physical force to make the infants wail. Funny noises and scary masks usually do the trick.

Japanese traditionally believe that crying will bring the baby good health while the sound of their screams will scare off demons. 

The winner is decided by whoever cries first — or loudest.