Athletics: Willis back in the running for medal

Commonwealth Games 1500m medal prospect Nick Willis plans to race in Melbourne this week, despite illness knocking a hole in his training.

Willis missed three days' running when he caught an infection that struck his Lower Hutt household.

He moved out of the family home to avoid the full blast of an illness that prevented his father from going to work.

He was due to run an 800m in Melbourne on Thursday night.

He still planned to start that race, provided he was healthy, he said.

"I went for a jog this morning and I'm probably back up to 90 per cent. Yesterday I felt about 50 per cent on my run," he said.

He had been looking to run under 1m 47s in the Games buildup race.

His best for the distance is the 1m 45.5s he clocked in Belgium shortly before the 2004 Olympic Games.

Willis is a medal contender in the Games 1500m. His 3m 32.38s 2006 best - the New Zealand record - was the best of any Games-bound athlete.

Of his Games rivals, Canadian Kevin Sullivan has a faster personal best, while Australian Craig Mottram has run a sub 3m 49s mile - which translated to a 3m 31s 1500m.

- NZPA