KEY POINTS:
What a ride. Nick Willis took himself and his fans on the most extraordinary, unbelievable journey early today.
It started before the race when he cavorted and played up to the New Zealand supporters in the stand at the Bird's Nest Stadium as he was warming up for the Olympic 1500m final.
It continued with the oh-so-perfect three-and-three-quarter laps and his surge for a bronze medal, behind Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain and Asbel Kiprop, of Kenya.
And then it really wound up.
There were tears: "I was crying because... so many people sacrificed a lot for me. My brother came and coached me for the whole year, and my wife [Sierra] didn't work for a year to support me, the first year of our marriage," he said as he made his victory lap draped in a New Zealand flag.
There were gags: "Okay, everyone, hands in the middle," he joked in the melee of those waiting to speak to him under the stadium.
And there was sheer joy that a kid from little old New Zealand could again make it to the podium of the Olympic's marquee event: "It gives a lot of young kids hope that someone from a town like Lower Hutt of 100,000 people, where track and field is not big [can succeed]. I came from a high school of 2000 kids and I was only one of two people who ran track, so to come from that to get a chance to stand on the medal podium it really means a huge, huge amount."
He makes it sound easy. But to do it, Willis, 25, had to train for 10 years, learn some tough lessons and run smart.
He listened to his coaches, Michigan University track and field coach Ron Warhurst and brother Stephen, a sub-four minute miler who gave up his job this year to help Willis prepare for the Olympics.
"We've been planning this for about a year-and-a-half to two years; I think the people down under have been planning it for four," Warhurst said. "He finally listened to Stephen and I by staying off the rail.
"We told him if he had a clear run from 300m out he could have a medal instead of running up the inside, bumping and kicking and tripping like in the semis. He had a clear run from 300 out and he closed nice and he didn't panic. He kept his arms up in the straight. He has a tendency to drop his arms and when that happens the speed slows, the feet don't pick up but he kept his arms up and on his toes."
When Willis swept around the remnants of the fragmenting lead pack on the final bend, he knew a medal was in reach.
Then he sensed two-time European champion Mehdi Baala coming up the inside.
"I saw him coming on the big screen and I eked out that last inch to dip him on the line. That would have been absolutely devastating to come that close and miss out,"
What got him home? "I don't know if it was in my legs, it was in my soul."
Watching in the stands was his brother, Stephen and father, Richard. His mother died of cancer when he was four.
"I remember when we were kids and we'd get up in the morning and we'd watch the Olympics on TV together," said Stephen. "He was four and I was 12. So to now see him come across the line is something special. I said to dad [Richard] when he got out, 'he's got a medal'."
After the race, Willis paid homage to New Zealand's tradition in the 1500m.
"We've got a rich tradition - Jack Lovelock, Peter Snell and John Walker - three Olympic gold medallists and world record holders. I wasn't able to get the gold but the standard of competition and the spread that this sport has reached...to get a bronze medal to me means just as much."
The devout Christian said he had been overwhelmed by messages of support from home.
"One that was really encouraging was from former high performance manager Tony Rogers. He made the final in 1984 and he just sort of said the practical steps which it's going to take mentally and he'd done it before and he believed I could.
"Reading John Walker saying he was going to put his money where his mouth was and he believed I had the strength and speed to do it...really helped.
"My wife, my sister-in-law, my brother and coach, Ron - every single person somehow had this innate belief I could do it. My training partner Nate Brennan when we were warming up for the semi-final, he said, 'I'm going for the final but you've got a chance for a medal'.
"The fact that everyone believed it. My massage therapist said, 'There's something about you Nick. You don't necessarily say it but it oozes out of you that you believe you can do it'."
Amen to that, Nick.
NEW ZEALAND OLYMPIC GAMES 1500M MEDALLISTS
1936, Berlin: Jack Lovelock, gold, 3min 47.8sec, world record.
1964, Tokyo: Peter Snell, gold, 3min 38.1sec; John Davies, bronze, 3min 39.6sec.
1972, Munich: Rod Dixon, bronze, 3min 37.46sec.
1976, Montreal: John Walker, gold, 3min 39.17sec.
2008, Beijing: Nick Willis, bronze, 3min 34.16sec.
(NZPA)
