Bill Nankeville (born March 24, 1925) is a British national champion mile runner and won the AAA mile title four times in five years between 1948 and 1952, his best recorded time was 4:08.8 set in 1949. Roger Bannister interrupted his run of success in 1951.
Nankeville, Don Seaman, Roger Bannister and Chris Chataway set a world record time of 16 minutes 41 seconds for the 4x1 mile on the 1st of August 1953, as well as the world record 15:27.2 for the 4x1500 meters on the 23rd September 1953 running with Ralph Dunkley, David Law and Gordon Pirie.
Nankeville represented Great Britain in the 1948 and 1952 Olympic Games, finishing sixth with a time of 3:52.6 in the 1948 1500 meters final.
Nankeville recorded the events leading to Roger Bannister's historic sub-four-minute mile in his book 'The Miracle of the Mile' pub. 1956. S.Paul.
He is the father of TV impressionist Bobby Davro.[1]