Olympics: Willis makes 1500m final

Canada's Kevin Sullivan, right, and New Zealnd's Nicholas Willis react after a men's 1500-meter...
Canada's Kevin Sullivan, right, and New Zealnd's Nicholas Willis react after a men's 1500-meter semi-final. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
With 250m to go in yesterday's Olympic 1500m semifinal, New Zealand middle distance runner Nick Willis was in the perfect position to secure a finals berth.

He made it - after a few heart-stopping moments - finishing fifth in his heat in three minutes 37.54 seconds to qualify for Sunday's final. But for a while, it looked like everything was unravelling.

Running on the inside rail, ready to explode into the home straight off a slow early pace, Willis was poised to become the first New Zealander to qualify for an Olympic final since 800m runner Toni Hodgkinson in 1996.

And then he got caught out as the field streamed past in the final furlong home.

"I thought I was in the perfect position with 250m to go, right behind (Arturo) Casado the Spaniard, but then he actually ran out of steam with 200m to go and everyone went by," Willis said afterwards.

"I was like 'how do I get out of this position?' It's sort of like pulling out in traffic to pass when someone else is coming -- you've got to check your rear view mirror otherwise you'll get a blind spot."

Willis said he had uncomfortable flashbacks to the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth heats, when he stumbled with 300m to go.

"You lose your stride -- it's like getting up from an ankle tap, just getting your foot in front of you. You lose your momentum, and you've got to really regather your speed."

Casado had taken the field through 800m in a pedestrian 2:02.05, and it took Kenyan Augustine Kiprono Choge to up the tempo with a 55sec third lap before the race really took off -- albeit almost without Willis.

But while in the past the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games gold medallist would have panicked and struggled to stay with the leaders, this time he remained calm, regrouped and made sure of a finals berth with a useful turn of speed down the home straight.

Willis was fortunate his heat was the second one of the evening, and it was clear what had to be done after Asbel Kipruto Kiprop (Kenya) won the first heat in 3:37.04, taking eight further finishers through under 3:38.

"I don't know whether it's unsportsmanlike or not, but for the first lap I was yelling at them `come on guys, pick up the pace, we've got a chance to get seven guys through in this heat'. That's how pedestrian it was.

"It was the Olympic Games semi-final, so that was a pretty comical experience to realise I did that."

Willis finished second in his heat two days ago, controlling the race well to finish second in 3:36.01 behind Frenchman Mehdi Baala's 3:35.87. The New Zealander's time was the sixth fastest time across the four heats.

Willis' semifinal yesterday included last year's world 1500m and 5000m champion Bernard Lagat (USA), who won bronze at the Sydney Olympics and silver in Athens four years ago, yet missed out on the final 12 by two hundredths of a second.

Kenyan Augustine Choge, the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games 5000m champion, qualified with eighth fastest time from Willis' heat but world indoor 1500m champion Deresse Mekonnen of Ethiopia missed out, coming in 14th fastest.

The first five qualified in each semifinal, and the two fastest losers. Given that Kiprop's winning time was 3:37.04 while 12th qualifier Daham Naim Bashir (Qatar) managed 3:37.77, Sunday's final could go any way -- maybe even Willis'.

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