Athletics: World star turns up at local meets

Nick Willis at Tauranga. Photo / Bay of Plenty Times

Nick Willis could be stripping off his tracksuit to race at an athletics meet somewhere near you in the next fortnight.

Tauranga track and field fans were treated to just such a surprise when the Beijing 1500m silver medallist appeared at late notice for a twilight meet on New Year's Day. He waltzed home in the 800m and 3000m events, much as he did as a teenager.

Willis isn't broadcasting his runs in New Zealand, preferring to keep a low profile rather than tell people he will run and then have to cry off if he doesn't feel right.

He may well run in Wellington soon but it could just as easily be somewhere else.

"Unfortunately I couldn't really promote it," he says of his Tauranga run. "I wanted to focus on training without letting anyone down like last year back home - when I got injured and had to pull out of events."

Willis won both races there but was particularly pleased with his 800m, an event he is targeting at the Delhi Commonwealth Games in October, in addition to the 1500m. He will emulate what Peter Snell achieved in 1962 at the Perth Games, if he wins both.

"I did a time of 1m 54s, so that's 57-second laps. I had only been doing 63-second laps up to that point so it was my best race pace for a while. I felt as strong as I have ever been though, so I'm getting the base fitness. Now I need to translate that into speed and results on the track."

Willis will probably need to cut at least eight seconds off that time to be in medal contention, but he's happy with the effort considering he'd forgone all racing since getting back into training in August after hip surgery in April.

"I treated rehab as a full-time job to see whether I could beat the recovery curve or not. Sometimes I was ahead, sometimes I was behind. But since August it's a joy to be running again, especially without having to deal with the snow of Michigan at the moment.

"It was more frustrating before the surgery. I was in limbo but I saw the surgeon and he was confident of getting me right. So although the operation was horrible and I was all grogged up and on crutches, I'd seen examples of other patients who'd made full recoveries."

Willis has clear plans heading into the year. First up will be receiving that elusive 1500m silver medal he's been promised after Rashid Ramzi's disqualification for doping at the Beijing Olympics, probably before he leaves New Zealand on January 24.

He will then race the mile at the Boston Indoor Games on February 6 before heading back home to run the 800m at Christchurch's International Track Meet at QEII Park on March 18.

"That's the earliest in a year I've done a serious 800m, I want to keep my strength, but will be working on my hill sprints in the meantime."

Willis will race the national championships at Christchurch the following weekend before heading to his Northern Hemisphere outdoor season in July, which includes several of the new Diamond League meets.

Normally he'd begin his outdoor meetings in May to prepare for a world championships or Olympics in August but has pushed the itinerary out so he can peak at the Commonwealth Games in pursuit of Snell's 1962 feat.

"I'll do a maximum six races before the Commonwealth Games to simulate the same schedule as Beijing," he says.

Willis has one other objective before he shoots off: regaining his Kiwi accent which is now laden with an American lilt from his years spent in Ann Arbor.