Willis Earns 1500m Olympic Bronze
8/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field, Olympics
Note: In November 2009, gold-medal winner Rashid Ranzi was disqualified for a positive drug test and Willis was upgraded to the silver medal.
BEIJING, China -- University of Michigan men's track and field alumnus Nick Willis (2003-05) used a strong finishing kick to sprint past several competitors and into medal contention, capturing bronze in the Olympic 1,500-meter final on Tuesday evening (Aug. 19) at the National Stadium. Willis, representing New Zealand in his second Olympic Games, posted a time of 3:34.16 in the tactical race and outleaned France's Mehdi Baala at the line to claim the final spot on the award stand and New Zealand's first medal in the 1,500 meters since John Walker's gold in 1976.
Willis' effort brings the Michigan men's track and field programs all-time medal count to 30 during the modern era. It is the first for the Wolverines in 24 years, dating back to Brian Diemer's bronze performance in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
Starting the race in the far outside lane, Willis immediately settled into the rear middle of the pack on the inside rail, where he remained for a majority of the race. The 12-man field spread out with a quick 54.55-second opening split but bunched back together as the pace slowed in the subsequent lap. Willis had dropped back to 10th place by the bell, but he made his move down the backstretch, quickly maneuvering himself up to the sixth position. Coming out of the final turn, he cut to the outside lane and kicked down another three competitors with Baala following on his heels along the rail. Willis held his position in the final 50 meters and leaned across the line to edge out the French runner by a slim 0.05-second margin.
Willis was one of three former Wolverine standouts in the Olympic 1,500-meter competition. Nate Brannen (2002-05) and Kevin Sullivan (1994-98), both representing Canada, advanced to the semifinal round but placed ninth in their respective races to miss the final cut. Willis, who missed the 2004 Olympic final by just 0.19 seconds, claimed the fifth and final automatic spot in his semifinal race after placing second in the preliminary round.
Willis is scheduled to compete in the first round of the 800-meter run tomorrow (Wednesday, Aug. 20) at 7 p.m., while Sullivan will return to the track an hour later for the first round of the 5,000-meter run at 8:15 p.m.
