Two-Time Medalist Willis Makes History with Qualification for Fifth Olympics
7/2/2021 12:50:00 PM | Men's Track & Field, Olympics
MONACO -- In one of the greatest feats of longevity in the history of the Olympics, former University of Michigan men's track and field standout Nick Willis (2003-05) has officially qualified for his fifth consecutive Olympic Games representing New Zealand at the 1,500-meter distance. He is New Zealand's first male five-time Olympian in track and field.
Willis, the 2008 silver medalist and 2016 bronze medalist, was named the 45th and final qualifier for the 1,500-meter competition in Tokyo later this summer when the final qualifiers list was announced by World Athletics on Thursday (July 1).
In Michigan Athletics history, only six-time qualifier Derya Buyukuncu, a Turkish swimmer, has qualified to more Games than Willis.
Willis joins training partner Mason Ferlic of the United States (steeplechase) -- both of whom are coached by former U-M coach Ron Warhurst -- among track and field qualifiers to the Games, as well as former Wolverines Steven Bastien (decathlon), Tiffany Porter (100-meter hurdles) and Cindy Sember (100-meter hurdles).
Though Willis did not achieve the 3:35.00 automatic qualifying standard, the multiple-time NCAA champion for Michigan was among those who filled out the field of 45 athletes on the strength of his position in the World Athletics Event Rankings. His 3:38.43 only ranks him 159th in the world for 2021, but the collective strength of his performances over the past two years -- including his 19th consecutive year with at least one sub-four-minute mile in 2021 -- put him at No. 44 in the final Event Rankings.
Only one other man in the history of Olympics has competed at the 1,500-meter distance in five separate Games; Branko Zorko of Yugoslavia and Croatia competed in 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004 but never advanced beyond the semifinals.
Willis, by comparison, has only missed the final once: as a 21-year-old at the 2004 Athens Games by 0.19 of a second. He went on to finish second, ninth and third in successive trips to the Olympics. In Athens, Willis ran his Olympic debut race in the qualifying heats in the race directly before what would be Zorko's final Olympic race.
In 2016, at the age of 33, Willis became both the oldest man to medal and the oldest finalist in the 1,500-meter event in a crazy sprint for the finish as all of the top-12 finishers were within two seconds of one another.
Now 38 years of age -- 38 years and 100 days when the gun goes off for the qualifying heats on Aug. 2, to be precise -- Willis will be among the oldest to ever contest the 1,500 meters at the Olympics. He will be just 123 days younger than Vyacheslav Shabunin of Russia was when he ran his last Olympic 1,500-meter race at the 2008 Beijing Games -- in a qualifying heat in which Willis, then 25 years old, finished second.
The men's 1,500-meter run competition in Tokyo is scheduled for Aug. 3 (first round), Aug. 5 (semifinals) and Aug. 7 (final).
