Olympics-Bannister hopes Games help UK racial tolerance | Agricultural Commodities | Reuters: One of Britain's most revered athletes, Roger Bannister, said the success of the London Games had helped restore a sense of national pride and greater tolerance in multi-racial Britain.
The 2012 Olympics were held a year after riots swept through Tottenham in north London, initially sparked by the police shooting of a 29-year-old black man, and then spread to other cities across Britain.
Bannister, who won fame in 1954 by running the first sub-four-minute mile, said the Olympics and the success of British team had given people a reason to celebrate and come together.
"The Olympics have elevated national pride and made the modern society of Great Britain much more cohesive and more at ease with itself," Bannister told Reuters in a telephone interview on Sunday as the Games came to a close.
