Willis turns his focus to Tokyo
Triple Commonwealth Games 1500m medallist Nick Willis has been forced to withdraw from the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
A stress reaction in his fibula, diagnosed five weeks ago has been improving with a range of cross training activities, but the 34 year old is yet to resume running.
‘‘I had hoped that I would only miss four weeks of training, but that was really a best case scenario,’’ Willis said. ‘‘I am still at least two weeks out from being able to run again, so the decision not to compete at the games has been made for me by my leg, it’s not even an option sadly.’’
Willis, from Lower Hutt, won gold in Melbourne 2006 and bronze in New Delhi 2010 and Glasgow 2014.and also has two Olympic 1500m medals – silver from Beijing 2008 and bronze from Rio 2016.
‘‘The goal now is to prepare for Tokyo 2020, and take every necessary measure to make sure I am healthy for another shot at the Olympic podium.’’
Meanwhile, Jason Christie will not be riding at the Commonwealth Games, after the national road cycling champion had his appeal dismissed by the New Zealand Sports Tribunal.
After winning the national championships in January - his second title in three years Christie, told Stuff that he hoped the result would lead to Commonwealth Games selection.
However, the Tasman rider, who is not signed to a professional team, was not nominated by Cycling New Zealand for selection.
In a statement, the New Zealand Sports Tribunal said: ‘‘Ultimately, while acknowledging Mr Christie is undoubtedly a talented cyclist who deserved and received serious consideration, the Tribunal cannot conclude that his omission was irrational or beyond the properly available discretion of the discipline panel. There is no material to suggest that regard was had to matters which were not relevant or that all his history and experience were not properly assessed.’’