Gunder Hagg, who held the world mile record for nine years until Britain's Roger Bannister broke the four-minute barrier, died at the age of 85, the Swedish news agency TT reported on Sunday.

Hagg, widely regarded as Sweden's greatest athlete, set 15 world records in middle distance running, including 10 in three months in 1942 when he became the first man to run 5,000 metres in under 14 minutes.

Hagg's breakthrough came in 1941 when he set the 1,500 metres world record at the national championships in Stockholm. In July 1945 he set a world mile record of 4 minutes, 1.4 seconds, which stood until Bannister ran 3:59.4 in 1954.

Partly due to the absence of Olympic Games and world championships during World War Two, Hagg never took part in a major international event.

He was disqualified from amateur competition in 1945 after receiving money for his running. He then held world records in 1,500 metres, 2,000, 3,000 and 5,000 as well for the mile and the two and three mile distances.