Athletics: Nick Willis up against conditions

By EUGENE BINGHAM in Athens


He entered the stadium waving and jostling with the crowd, he left after collapsing in the tunnel.

Nick Willis, the 21-year-old New Zealand 1500m runner, had a brutal introduction to Olympic competition in Athens early yesterday, running in a semifinal which left him vomiting from the mental and physical strain.

He came sixth in a race won by world record holder Hicham El Guerrouj, missing out on automatic qualification for the final by one place.

Because his heat was initially run at a dreadfully slow pace, with the heat coming on late, his time was also too slow to qualify him as one of the fastest losers.

Despite the result, top Canadian runner and Sydney Olympic final fifth place-getter Kevin Sullivan said he was sure Willis had a bright future.

"He has all the attributes to be one of the greats in this event, I think," said Sullivan, who has trained with Willis in the United States.

"I saw the way he ran his heat and I thought, 'You've got to believe he is going to be in the final, and he may even have had an outside chance for a medal this year'."

Athletics team manager and former Olympic 1500m finalist Tony Rogers said Willis had been caught wide during the race, a tactical error which he would learn from.

He said Willis had a great attitude and was fearless. After the race, Willis shook El Guerrouj's hand, before retreating to the tunnel.


El Guerrouj, of Morocco, confirmed his favouritism for the final to be raced tomorrow morning (NZ time) when he will have a chance to finally strike gold after two disappointing Olympic finals.

Kenya's Bernard Lagat, bronze medallist in Sydney, looked comfortable in the other semifinal, won by Adil Kaouch, also of Morocco.