Athletics: Fast improvement for Willis

By EUGENE BINGHAM

Nick Willis, the young New Zealand middle-distance runner with the growing reputation, showed yesterday that he has the speed to surprise at the Olympics.

The US-based Wellingtonian ran a world-class time over 800m to win a B-grade race in Belgium, proving that he has a kick good enough to match the best in the 1500m in Athens this month.

His time of 1m 45.54s was a personal best by almost two seconds. It was the second-fastest 800m posted this season by athletes who have run under 3m 33s for the 1500m.

The only 1500m runner to have posted a faster 800m time this season is the French world championship silver medallist, Mehdi Baala.

Olympic 1500m finals are usually tactical races, run without the pace-setters who help make for the fast times on the European circuit, and speed in the last lap can be the decisive difference.

Willis, whose duel with North Shore 1500m runner Adrian Blincoe to make the New Zealand team has been a feature of the TVNZ programme Road to Athens, cemented his place in Athens with a 3m 32.68s personal best in Rome last month, well under the selectors' A standard qualifying standard.

Remarkably, his race yesterday was under the 800m A standard, too, but Norris ruled out the possibility of him contesting both distances in Greece.

"There is a good chance, the way he is running and his ability to finish, that he could be a finalist and therefore have had three hard races."

Besides, if Willis was to claim an 800m berth, it would mean automatic "de-selection" for Napier 22-year-old Jason Stewart.

Several other New Zealand track and field athletes had warm-up events yesterday, including discus thrower Beatrice Faumuina.

She won a Spanish championship event in Almeria with a throw of 62.52m.

At the same competition, javelin thrower Stuart Farquhar also won his event with a throw of 71.35m, well below his B qualifying throw.

Pole vaulter Melina Hamilton missed the competition because of flight delays which saw her arrive at her hotel at 4.30am and her equipment turn up after the event.

The two 5000m runners, Michael Aish and Kimberley Smith, had disappointing performances, trailing the fields in their events in London.

Former world junior shotput champion Valerie Adams was due to compete in Austria overnight.

Meanwhile, triathlete Bevan Docherty and team-mates Hamish Carter and Nathan Richmond warmed up for their Olympic race by dominating the London Triathlon yesterday. Docherty, the world champion and favourite for the Olympic gold alongside Ivan Rana, of Spain, won the event, speeding away from the rest of the field to finish in 1h 46m 18s. Carter finished fourth and Richmond sixth.

Frenchman Fred Belaubre was second.

Fastest 800m times this year

Mehdi Baala (France) 1m 45.52s.

Nick Willis (NZ) 1m 45.54s.

Rui Silva (Portugal) 1m 45.90s.