The New Zealand Olympic Committee is pleased to confirm that 1500m athlete Nick Willis will be presented with his Beijing silver medal at the International Track Meet in Christchurch on Feb 26th at QEII Stadium.
Willis finished third in the glamour event of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, but was subsequently upgraded to second following the disqualification of the gold medallist, Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain.
The original silver medal that arrived had previously been presented to second place finisher Asbel Kiprop of Kenya, and showed signs of wear. The New Zealand Olympic Committee asked the IOC to mint a new silver medal for Willis which was subsequently done. While the medal arrived in NZ in mid 2010, Willis had expressed the wish to be presented with the medal in front of a strong home crowd, so the presentation will now occur at the International Track Meet in Christchurch, in front of an expected crowd of over five thousand fans.
Willis was delighted when the presentation ceremony details were confirmed. "Having the medal presented here will be a great honour. Considering the circumstances that have led to this point, I couldn't think of a more fitting way to celebrate the experience I had that night in Beijing. To share the medal with the country is what motivated me down that home straight run, and now I get to share the medal ceremony with everyone back home", he said yesterday.
Kereyn Smith, the Secretary General of the New Zealand Olympic Committee said "After a long wait, we are delighted to be able to present this very special medal to Nick in front of his NZ friends and family and an enthusiastic crowd at the International Track Meet."
Meet Director Craig Motley said that the occasion was unique in New Zealand sporting history – the first and possibly only time that an Olympic medal would ever be presented in New Zealand. "It will get the meet off to a roaring start, and get the crowd pumped up for an exciting evening of track and field action, with New Zealand's best athletes taking on the world."
Willis will compete in his favoured 1500m distance at the meet, in the same stadium where his boyhood hero, Kiwi legend Sir John Walker, famously won the Commonwealth silver medal in 1974, chasing Tanzanian Filbert Bayi all the way in a race in which both runners broke the existing world record. Willis' main goal in the race on Feb 26th will be to win the race in front of the home crowd, and to secure a qualifying time for the World Championships in Korea this August. However he will surely have one eye on the times set 37 years before by Bayi and Walker, which still stand today as the New Zealand Allcomers and Resident records respectively.
For a history of 1500m/mile running in Christchurch, written by noted author and athletics commentator Roger Robinson, go to the "History" tab on the International Track Meet website www.internationaltrackmeet.co.nz.
Factbox: Men's 1500m
Willis is New Zealand's sixth Olympic medallist in the event, after the three gold medals won by Jack Lovelock (1936), Peter Snell (1964), and John Walker (1976), and two bronze medals won by John Davies (1964) and Rod Dixon (1972).
New Zealand Records:
- National (by a NZ athlete anywhere) Nick Willis, 3:32.17, Paris 2006
- Allcomers (by any athlete in NZ) Filbert Bayi (Tanzania), 3:32.16, Christchurch 1974
- Resident (by a NZ athlete in NZ) John Walker, 3:32.52, Christchurch 1974
- International Track Meet Record Ryan Gregson (Australia), 3:41.69, 2010
- World Championships Qualifying Standard 3:35.00
