1. Nicholas Ian Willis was born on 25 April 1983 and is a New Zealand middle-distance runner and the country's only two-time Olympic medalist in the 1500 metres.
25 Facts About Nick Willis
1. 2.
Nick Willis won the silver medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and bronze at the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro.
3.
Nick Willis was born in and grew up in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, where he went to Hutt Valley High School and was coached by Don Dalgliesh before attending University of Michigan in the United States on a full athletic scholarship.
4.
Nick Willis's brother, Steve Willis, is an athlete, and they are the only brothers in the history of New Zealand to have both broken 4:00 minutes for the mile.
5.
In 2000, Nick Willis won the 800m and 1500m double at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships.
6.
In 2005, at the Golden League series in Paris, France, Nick Willis broke John Walker's 32-year-old national record for the 1500m.
7.
Nick Willis won the 1500m silver medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics.
8.
Nick Willis originally placed third but the eventual disqualification of Rashid Ramzi due to a positive drug test saw Willis's bronze medal upgraded to silver, which he received in 2011.
9.
On 2 May 2018, it was announced that Asbel Kiprop of Kenya, who was declared the champion on Ramzi's disqualification, had tested positive for the banned performance-enhancing drug EPO Although this raises the possibility of Kiprop being disqualified and Nick Willis being declared champion it is highly unusual for any drug sanction to cover more than a few years.
10.
Nick Willis ran in the second 1500m semi-final where the pace was so slow that during the race he told the other competitors to "pick up the pace" so that more of them would have a chance to qualify.
11.
In conclusion to his 2008 season, Nick Willis won the Fifth Avenue Mile race in New York City, beating out twice-world champion Bernard Lagat of the United States by 0.1 seconds.
12.
Nick Willis was the first New Zealander to win the race since John Walker in 1984.
13.
Nick Willis came fifth in the Fifth Avenue Mile race and although he was the defending champion in the 1500m, his form leading into the 2010 Commonwealth Games was not his best.
14.
Nick Willis managed to win the bronze medal in the event and said afterward that he was looking forward to training injury-free.
15.
Nick Willis didn't receive his 2008 Olympic silver medal until 26 February 2011.
16.
In July 2012 Nick Willis set the Oceania 1500m record with a run of 3:30.35 at the Monaco Diamond League Herculis meeting.
17.
Nick Willis placed third in the race, and his time was an improvement on his own New Zealand record.
18.
Over a 66-day period leading up to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Nick Willis ran his best times over four different distances.
19.
Nick Willis placed seventh in an uncommonly fast race: the runners who finished fourth through seventh all ran the quickest ever times for their places in the field.
20.
Frustrated at himself, Nick Willis believed he'd timed his race badly and saw his third placing as a "respectable finish" that he had to "salvage" from the race.
21.
In early 2016 Nick Willis won his first World Indoor Championship medal, taking bronze in the 1500m final behind future Olympic champion Matt Centrowitz and Jakub Holusa.
22.
In finishing third, Nick Willis became the oldest man to win an Olympic medal in the 1500 metres, and the 8th man to have won two 1500m Olympic medals.
23.
On 19 January 2021 Nick Willis broke 4 minutes in the mile for a record 19th year in a row, running a 3:58.05 mile at the Orange Winter Classic meet in Clermont, Florida.
24.
On 29 January 2022 Nick Willis extended the record for consecutive years with a sub-four minute mile when he broke 4 minutes in the mile for a 20th year in a row, running a 3:59.71 mile at the Millrose Games at the Armory in New York City.
25.
In 2016, Nick Willis admitted that he had been addicted to pornography since he was a teenager, but had been porn-free for two-and-a-half years.