Nick Willis

Medal record
Nick Willis warming up at the New Zealand Track and Field Championships, 2008
Men's athletics
Competitor for  New Zealand
Olympic Games
Silver	2008 Beijing	1500 metres
Commonwealth Games
Gold	2006 Melbourne	1500 metres
Bronze	2010 Delhi	1500 metres

Nicholas Ian Willis MNZM (born 25 April 1983) is a New Zealand middle distance runner. He won the silver medal in the 1500m at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing with a time of 3:34.16 minutes.^[1] He was a gold medallist in the 1500 metres at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and a bronze medallist at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. He was the first athlete from New Zealand to win the 1500 metres at the Commonwealth Games (although Peter Snell and Jack Lovelock have both won gold in the Mile at the Empire and Commonwealth Games.)

Personal life

Willis was born in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, he grew up with a brother and two sisters and attended Hutt Valley High School in Lower Hutt, and university in the United States at the University of Michigan. His brother, Steve Willis, is also an athlete, and they are the only brothers in the history of New Zealand to have both broken 4:00 minutes for the mile.^[2]

For a New Zealand high school student over the mile, Willis became the fastest ever on 20 January 2001, with a time of 4 minutes 1.33 seconds.^[3]

In May 2007, Willis became engaged to his girlfriend, Sierra Boucher. They married five months later on 30 September 2007 and currently reside in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Career

In 2005, at the Golden League series in Paris, France, Willis broke John Walker's 32 year old record for the 1500 m. Willis then won a Gold Medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, which he completed in 3:38.49 minutes, and two first placings at the New Zealand Track & Field Championships in 2006, with a time of 3:50.77 minutes, and 2008, which he ran in 3:44.46 minutes. His IAAF world ranking was 16 in May 2007.

In the first 1500m heat of the 2008 Summer Olympics Willis placed 2nd in a time of 3:36.01. After running at the back of the field for the first few laps he took the lead on the final lap eventually finishing ahead of Mehdi Baala.^[4]

Willis ran in the second 1500m semi-final where the pace was so slow that during the race he unusually told the other competitors to pick up the pace so more of them would have a chance to qualify. With 250m to go Willis was almost boxed in and had to fight his way around Arturo Casado. Willis finished 5th in the semi-final in a time of 3:37.54, making him the 9th fastest qualifier for the 12 man final.^[5]

In the 1500m final Willis stayed at the back of the pack of runners for most of the race. Working his way through the field, he found himself in 6th place with 200m to go. Along the home straight he passed three runners, holding off Baala on the line claiming the bronze medal in 3:34.16.^[6] With the November 18, 2009 disqualification of would-be winner Rashid Ramzi due to a positive drug test, that medal status was upgraded to a silver medal.^[7]

In conclusion to his 2008 season, Willis won the Fifth Avenue Mile race in New York City, beating out twice-world champion Bernard Lagat of the United States by 0.1 seconds. Willis is the only New Zealander to win the race since John Walker won it in 1984.^[8]

During 2010, Willis underwent knee surgery. He came fifth in the Fifth Avenue Mile race and as defending champion in the 1500m his form leading into the 2010 Commonwealth Games was not his best. He managed to win the bronze medal in the event and said afterwards he was looking forward to training injury-free.

Personal bests

Distance	Time	Place	Date
800 m	1:45.54	Heusden-Zolder	2004
1000 m	2:16.93	Gateshead	2008
1500 m	3:31.79 NR	Monaco	2011
Mile	3:50.66	Eugene, OR	2008
3000 m	7:45.97	Lausanne	2005
5000 m	13:27.54	Sacramento, CA	2005

References

1. ^ Willis Earns 1500m Olympic Bronze Retrieved: 19th August 2008
2. ^ Melbourne 2006 XVIII Commonwealth Games - Athletes Biography - Nicholas Willis
3. ^ Berkow, Ira (6 March 2001). "Sports of The Times; Latest Sensation From New Zealand". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06EEDF103BF935A35750C0A9679C8B63. Retrieved 2007-12-13. 
4. ^ "Willis runs comfortably into semis". Stuff.co.nz. 16 August 2008. http://www.stuff.co.nz/archived-stuff-sections/archived-sport-sections/olympics-2008/582931. Retrieved 30 October 2011. 
5. ^ "Willis into 1500m final". Stuff.co.nz. 18 August 2008. http://www.stuff.co.nz/archived-stuff-sections/archived-sport-sections/olympics-2008/585029. Retrieved 30 October 2011. 
6. ^ YouTube - ATHLETICS -- 1500M MEN Retrieved: 19th March 2009
7. ^ http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news?slug=ap-doping-ramzistripped&prov=ap&type=lgns AP article
8. ^ "Willis earns break after NY breakthrough". The Dominion Post. 22 September 2008. http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/639854. Retrieved 30 October 2011. 

External links

• IAAF profile for Nick Willis
• Official website of Nick Willis

Persondata
Name	Willis, Nick
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	25 April 1983
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death