Willis primed for final crack at glory
NICK Willis understands too well he’s running out of moments like today’s in the final of the Olympic 1500 metres in Rio.
The 33-year-old Kiwi athletics great has produced two composed, well-timed and savvy runs to make it through to his third straight Olympic final (noon today, NZT) in the blue riband event on the track.
At this stage of his career, ticking off his fourth Games, that’s a feat that should be celebrated in its own right.
But Willis is locked in for these Olympics, and there is a singlemindedness, focus and intent about him that indicates he’s well aware this might well be his last chance to do something special at this level.
The Michigan-based pride of the Lower Hutt knows too well what can be achieved in the heat of an Olympic final.
And he knows equally well that it can go wrong.
Of course, most memorably, he came away with a silver medal from his first Olympic 1500m final, in Beijing in 2008, when he ran the race of his life to come home third, and eventually be promoted a spot when drugtesting results came in.
Four years ago in London, it did not go quite so well as he faded to ninth in a final that just did not go his way.
That was a result that has clearly fuelled him to go another Olympic cycle in the 1500 at a time when a lot of athletes go up a distance. PHOTOSPORT
It’s been so far, so good for Willis in Rio as he’s rattled off two brilliant finishes to progress with what has looked a minimum of effort.
‘‘I was very lucky over the last 50 to get through. But I feel good, and I’ll see you in the final,’’ he said on his way out of the stadium after his semifinal.
If that sounds to you like a man on a mission, you’re right.