James Tully Beatty is a former American track and field athlete and North Carolina politician who is best remembered as the first person to break the four-minute mile barrier on an indoor track, when he ran 3:58.9 on February 10, 1962, at the Los Angeles Invitational in the Los Angeles Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California. He competed in the men's 5000 metres at the 1960 Summer Olympics.
Beatty moved to Charlotte, North Carolina with his family when he was four years old. He grew up in the Dilworth neighborhood, delivering for the Charlotte Observer with his trusted dog "Trigger" for five years. Then focused on boxing, young Beatty would run his paper route to help him train. While at Central High School, the last meet of his junior year Beatty convinced his coach to let him run the mile event. His speed was discovered in that race, as he went on to win. In the course of a month, he went from never running in a race before, to winning a state championship in the mile. Beatty went on to run track at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he majored in English and had a minor in History.
Graduating from UNC in 1957, Beatty's best time in the mile was 4:06.