Nick Willis

Nick Willis at the 2016 World Indoor Championships

Nicholas "Nick" Ian Willis , MNZM (born April 25, 1983 in Lower Hutt ) is a New Zealand middle-distance runner who mainly starts on the 1,500 meter course .

Athletic career

At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, he was eliminated in the semifinals, but then celebrated his first major success in 2006 when he won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne .

A tenth place at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka was followed by the second major triumph at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Here he finished in 3: 34.16 minutes behind Rashid Ramzi (BRN) and Asbel Kiprop (KEN). However, since Ramzi subsequently tested positive for the EPO derivative Mircera , he moved up to silver.

At the Commonwealth Games 2010 Willis won the bronze medal over 1500 meters behind the Kenyans Silas Kiplagat and James Kiplagat Magut . In 2011 Willis reached the finals at the World Championships and finished twelfth there. In the following year, he also made it to the finals at the Olympic Games , ultimately placing ninth. At the Commonwealth Games 2014 in Glasgow Willis reached the finals on two courses: he finished tenth over 5000 meters; six days later, like four years before, he won the bronze medal over 1500 meters behind the two Kenyans James Kiplagat Magut and Ronald Kwemoi . Willis achieved his best placement at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing with a sixth place over 1500 meters in 3: 35.46 minutes. Eight years after the Beijing Olympics, Willis won the bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro behind Matthew Centrowitz from the United States and the Algerian Taoufik Makhloufi .

Nick Willis won the New Zealand 1500 meter championships in 2006, and in 2011 and 2012 he won the 5000 meter.

Nick Willis is 1.83 m tall and weighs 68.5 kg. After studying at the University of Michigan , he settled permanently in Ann Arbor . He starts for the sporting goods company Reebok and is trained by Ron Warhurst. He has been married since autumn 2007.

Personal bests

• 800 m : 1: 45.54 min, July 31, 2004, Heusden-Zolder
• 1500 m: 3: 29.91 min, July 18, 2014, Monaco (Oceania record)
• 1 mile : 3: 49.83 min, June 11, 2014, Oslo
• 3000 m : 7: 36.91 min, June 17, 2014, Ostrava (New Zealand record)
• 5000 m : 13: 20.33 min, May 15, 2014, Los Angeles

literature

• Peter Matthews (Ed.): Athletics 2015 . York 2015 ISBN 978-1-907524-479 p. 206

Web links

• Team Willis - A running commentary on the adventures of Nick and Sierra Willis , blog by Nick Willis' wife
• Nick Willis in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Nicholas Willis in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Shannon Martin : Interview with: Nick Willis . New York Runners June 2, 2006; Archived from the original on June 14, 2006 ; accessed on September 2, 2014 (English, original website no longer available). 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Leichtathletik.de: IOC recognizes Rashid Ramzi Olympic gold . November 18, 2009
2. ↑ Nick Willis . Global Athletics & Marketing Inc , archived from the original on February 6, 2008 ; accessed on May 7, 2018 (English, original website no longer available).