Herbert James Elliott is a former Australian athlete and arguably the world's greatest middle-distance runner of his era. In August 1958 he set the world record in the mile run, clocking 3:54.5, 2.7 seconds under the record held by Derek Ibbotson; later in the month he set the 1500 metres world record, running 3:36.0, 2.1 seconds under the record held by Stanislav Jungwirth. In the 1500 metres at the 1960 Rome Olympics, he won the gold medal and bettered his own world record with a time of 3:35.6. Herb Elliott (Australia) set the men's mile world record of 3:54.5 in Dublin on August 6, 1958. It stood 3.5 years, until Peter Snell's 3:54.4 on January 27, 1962. Wiki link