KEY POINTS:
Runner Nick Willis is about to earn his United States Green Card, but he has come home to find what he hopes will be his passport to Olympic glory.
The Commonwealth Games 1500m champion is back in New Zealand from his base in Michigan as he prepares for August's Beijing Games.
This weekend he will compete at the national track and field Championships at Mt Smart in Auckland, but, unlikely to face much competition, the races themselves are not his most pressing reason for being here.
"What has been really important for me is to feel like I'm being sent off from New Zealand [to the Olympics] rather than doing it on my own," Willis said this week.
"This has brought me back to where it all started."
During his 10-day trip home, he has addressed a Wellington mayoral breakfast and a group from Onehunga High School, where his aunt teaches.
"It's great to see all those kids' eyes open up and for them to hear that I had to overcome some of the hurdles they face to get where I am today."
The 24-year-old, destined for stardom since setting a world-class mile time as a Lower Hutt high school student, attended Michigan University and has bought a house there after marrying fellow graduate Sierra Boucher last year. The couple are due back home next month for a US immigration interview so Willis can obtain a Green Card.
For the past three months, they lived out of suitcases as Willis raced the indoor season in the US and Europe, culminating in the world indoor championships in Valencia early this month.
In a rough-and-tumble 1500m final, Willis crossed the line fifth but was disqualified for stepping on the inside of the track. "I was a bit disappointed to come away without having an official placing to my name but ... we chose to run the indoor season for the sole purpose of getting race-prepared.
"Watching the video and how I finished ... I really feel if I had run a smarter race I could have won a medal. There's lots to take from it."
Hard race experience is exactly what Willis needs. As a 21-year-old, he made the semifinals at the 2004 Olympics and the following year broke John Walker's 32-year-old New Zealand 1500m record. In 2006, he lowered his personal best to 3m 32.17s, and won gold at Melbourne.
To stride into what he hopes will be a medal-contending position at Beijing, Willis knows he will have to race fast and smart.
Since the world indoors, he has switched to a base-building training phase churning out 16-22km runs each morning, and splicing in track sessions of sprint and hurdle drills. His first serious race will be in Los Angeles in May, against world champion Bernard Lagat, but before then he hopes to compete in about five 400m and 800m races.
"I really feel like if I want to have a shot at winning gold at Beijing, I really need to be in shape to run 47 seconds for 400m off a running start."
In tomorrow's final he will be racing for victory, not a fast time. "I'm not willing to go out and run a time trial."
