Nick Willis

EVENT: Athletics: Men's 1500m, 5000m

One of the finest track athletes New Zealand has produced, Nick Willis competed in the blue ribbon 1500m at five Olympic Games, winning silver at Beijing in 2008 and bronze at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

He also earned 1500m medals in all three of his Commonwealth Games - gold at Melbourne 2006, bronze at Delhi in 2010 and Glasgow in 2014. He won a bronze medal at the 2016 world indoor championships in Portland.

Willis, born in Lower Hutt in 1983, compiled a remarkable record of longevity. When he ran 3min 39.71s for the mile at the Millrose Games in New York on January 29, 2022, Willis achieved the milestone of breaking the four-minute barrier for the mile in 20 consecutive years.

New Zealand is proud of its traditions in the 1500m and mile. We’ve had three Olympic champions in Jack Lovelock, John Walker and Peter Snell. We’ve held the world 4 x one mile relay record twice. Rod Dixon and John Davies won Olympic bronze medals in the event.

Willis didn’t have a signature victory, like an Olympic gold medal, but is the only New Zealander to have won two Olympic medals in the 1500m, has gone faster even than Walker over the distance, and for year after year took on and often beat some great African middle-distance runners.

He attended Hutt Valley High School, where he was coached by Don Dalgliesh, before moving to the University of Michigan on an athletics scholarship. The move shaped his life – not only did he run well for the university, but he linked with coach Ron Warhurst there and has settled in Michigan.

Willis signalled he was something special when he won the 800m-1500m double at the national secondary schools champs in 2000. The following January, he became New Zealand’s fastest secondary school student over the mile, running 4min 01.33s.

His first Olympics was Athens in 2004, where he progressed to the semi-finals with a time of 3min 39.8s. In the semis he ran well, but missed out on the final by one place.

Already he’d adopted the tactic that became his trademark – running right on the pole line, covering the shortest distance possible, and waiting for the race to open up in the closing stages. He sometimes became horribly boxed in, but generally his patience was rewarded and he was able to pick up other runners with his finishing sprint.

Willis ran commandingly in the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. He won his heat and in the final outkicked Canadian Nick Brannen and Australian Mark Fountain to set the Melbourne Cricket Ground alight. Peter Snell in 1962 had been the previous New Zealander to win the Commonwealth Games 1500m (or one mile), back in 1962.  

Willis won the 1500m silver medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He initially placed third, but the disqualification of race winner Rashid Ramzi, representing Bahrain, after a positive drug test upgraded Willis from bronze to silver.

In Beijing, Willis was second in his heat, in a swift 3min 36.01s, but he found himself in a slow semi-final. And only a frantic late spurt took him to fifth place in pack finish and the last qualifying place for the final. 

As usual, stayed on the inside near the back in the final and was still only sixth with 220m remaining. But he opened up down the home straight and squeezed into the top three by 0.05s.

Willis rounded off a memorable year by winning the Fifth Avenue Mile in New York, beating double champion Bernard Lagat. John Walker was the previous New Zealander to win the race, in 1984.

Though plagued by knee problems in 2010, he found enough form to win a bronze medal at the Delhi Commonwealth Games behind two Kenyans.

After promising form in his heat and semi-final, Willis was outmanoeuvred in the 1500m final at the 2012 London Olympics, and finished ninth in 3min 36.9s. Willis was the New Zealand Olympic team captain in London.

At the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Willis outdipped South African Johan Cronje on the line to pick up another bronze medal. He also ran in the 5000m in Glasgow, finishing 10th.

This may have been the year in which Willis hit his peak. In the lead-up to Glasgow, he ran 13m 20.33s over 5000m (still 11th on the all-time New Zealand list), 3min 49.83s for the mile, a New Zealand record of 3min 29.91s for the 1500, and a New Zealand record of 7min 36.91s for the 3000m.

At Monaco the following year, he reduced his New Zealand 1500m record to 3min 29.66s. (His best 800m time of 1min 45.54s, run in 2004, still places him fifth on that all-time New Zealand list).

Using his lengthy experience of competing in the 1500m, Willis delivered a fantastic race at Rio 2016 Olympic Games to take the bronze medal. After running efficiently in his heat and semi-final, he looked out of medal contention in the final, but again powered home and snatched the bronze from Ayanleh Souleiman of Djibouti on the line.

Though he was 38, Willis had a final shot at the Olympics in Tokyo in 2021. He qualified for his fifth consecutive 1500m semi-final, but could progress no further, though his 3min 35.41s was his season’s best.

Since retiring, Willis has worked fulltime for apparel company Tracksmith.

In 2009, Willis was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit. He was three times - in 2006, 2008 and 2016 – a Halberg Sportsman of the Year finalist.

His older brother, Steve, was also a good athlete and broke four minutes for the mile in 2000.