Franz Stampfl: The Man Behind The Miracle Mile (TV Documentary) (in financing) Discover the untold and inspirational story of the world renowned athletics coach, Franz Stampfl, from his training of Roger Bannister to break the elusive four minute mile, to his first squad of Australian track and field athletes - all of whom would go on to become 1956 Olympians. When Austrian Franz Stampfl was invited to take up the post as the first professional athletics coach in Australia in 1955, the face of Australian athletics would be changed forever. Bringing his celebrated technique of interval training that had assisted Roger Bannister to break the four minute mile in Oxford, UK in 1954, Franz would assemble his first Australian athletics squad at Melbourne University in early 1956, and within a few short months create ten new Australian Olympians - the first of hundreds during his career. Through interviews with those original athletes, as well as archive footage, audio and stills, this documentary intends to show the extraordinary talent, commitment to excellence and inspirational personality of Franz Stampfl alongside the wonderfully Australian stories of his first squad of Australian athletes. View the trailer for the film below: To find out more about this film, please go to the Official Franz Stampfl: The Man Behind The Miracle Mile Web Site here. < back to Projects