Nick Willis injured again

"He had been unable to do the long runs needed to build strength, which had prevented him mounting strong finishes in his recent races."

Nick Willis is a great athlete but he and his "team" let him down with this sort of absolute garbage.

If you are going to win with humility, lose with humility.

Nick Willis didn't lose to Jeff Risely (twice) and Jeremy Roff (1500m Melbourne) because he was "unable to do the long runs needed to build strength, which had prevented him mounting strong finishes", he lost because he raced against two athletes who were probably a bit more hungry and better prepared for racing than he was, and against one athlete in particular (Risely) who is at least equal to the athletic talent he is.

I don't believe for a second that an athlete of Nick Willis's calibre would race and hence put his reputation and fitness on the line if he wasn't in healthy shape. He certainly doesn't need the money.

There is no shame in getting beaten out of season. I don't think for one second think these results point to anything that could happen in Europe and later at the Commonwealth Games this year

Big thumbs down for the lame and arrogant cop-outs. Totally insufferable.

That line has been written by the articles author. The only direct quote in the article is this line from his father... "He's gone back to his own medical people over there. The way he's been talking it sounds as if it can be sorted reasonably quickly,". There is no need to have a go at Nick or his team for saying what you quoted. I think it's quite likely the author has pulled it out of the air. Nick seems to be keeping very quiet over the whole thing and I have not seen any quotes from him or anybody in his team saying something like this.

So, he's not American.

Samuel Insufferati wrote:I don't believe for a second that an athlete of Nick Willis's calibre would race and hence put his reputation and fitness on the line if he wasn't in healthy shape. He certainly doesn't need the money..

I find this a bit funny...people on here bash people when they only race when they are "just right".....and when someone races without being just right, someone does't believe that an athlete would do that.

I'd find it harder to believe, that Willis is lying, than that he raced in less than healthy shape.

There is a big difference between being "right" as in physically 100% to race but perhaps in not the best racing shape (due to time of season, training phase etc), and not being "right" as in carrying an injury which gets because of racing.

Either way, if you toe the start line you are (in my books) saying that you good to go, no excuses, no bs.

This is just making excuses. If he wasn't fit enough because of lack of long runs then it makes no sense to get one-upped mentally by a guy who will be his big rival later in the year AND get re-injured.

So the question is, do you really believe that scenario would have happened or not. Simple.

Whacoo talkin 'bout Willis?

Neither is Barack H. Obama.

Why are nationals in NZ?

dan commando wrote:

This is just making excuses....

I must have missed the part where he was going around making making excuses for anything. In this article it states that "Willis will not confirm the injury" but perhaps a little difficult for him to head back to the US for treatment without people asking questions.

silver medalists don't lose to guys like that unless something's wrong or they're out of shape.

He should stop running in reebok shoes. They are a crap product.

jjjjjjjjjjj wrote:

silver medalists don't lose to guys like that unless something's wrong or they're out of shape.

Guys like what? Jeff Risely - 1.45 and 3.32?!?!?

last time I checked, same PR's as Willis and few years younger. Hasn't had his chance yet to win Commonwealth Games and medals in below-par Olympic 1500m finals. We'll see.

Btw Jeremy Roff is no mug either - 3.34 to his name.

So it is entirely possible that Willis could get beat by either of these Aussie champions even when in shape. He is no John Walker...

Hey Aussie Jim,

"He's no John Walker"....yeah that's right because he beat Walker's records outdoor and indoor in the 1500m and won the Commonwealth Games which Walker never did either.

Read the article...Willis makes no excuses. The guy came back from a hip surgery already last season and ran the fastest indoor mile in the world this season and a 3:35 low indoor both in Feb. Gee, is it possible he got injured since then again, but was already committed to racing down under so he did anyway? He stated clearly that the reason he was racing in Australia and NZ was to pay back the guys who came over to race in Christchurch last year at the meet he helped promote before he got hurt and had to pull out. So he came back this year to honor that commitment and I don't see him backing out even if he was less 100% because the public would've been gutted again. He never makes excuses.

And your comment about the Olympics....what a joke. The guy beat a list of who's who just to make the finals, much less a silver medal.

dan commando wrote: So the question is, do you really believe that scenario would have happened or not. Simple.

You mean do we believe the scenario that Willis might have raced while he was battling some sort of injury? Seriously? That's what you're asking?

Have you ever tried training and racing at any sort of respectable level? Managing ongoing aches and injuries is simply part of the sport, day in and day out. If you stopped racing every time something started hurting, you'd race once every three years. You treat everything as best you can, race with minor aches, but if they persist or starting getting worse, then you take more serious action -- like flying back home to see your usual medical team.

Seriously, Riseley and Roff are great runners, but you don't need to get your knickers all twisted on their behalf just because some journalist wrote a sentence that implies that Willis thinks he should have beaten them. They're perfectly capable of earning their own respect on the track.

Don't get sucked into comparing Willis against Walker. Your ignorance will only be highlighted. Nick is very good, and his focus is to stay healthy enough to challenge in London. Let's leave it at that.

Kiwii,

I'm not sure what so-called ignorance would be highlighted by comparing John Walker to Nick Willis. At this point in Willis's career I'd say it's pretty even (he's only 26, Walker competed until just shy of 40 so there are some things that won't be known for years).

Willis has better PR's in some events and Walker has better PR's in others. Willis won medals in both the Olympics and Commonwealth Games and so did Walker.

Both men competed in different eras (boycotts in 1976, 1980 and 1984 Olympics, etc.) combined with the evolution of the African nations in distance running makes somethings hard to compare.

Walker was Olympic champion, world record holder (at mile and 2k), and a total bad ass.

Willis is - obviously - a wonderful runner and a great guy. Hopefully, he'll have many years of great running to look forward to.

There have been many great New Zealand runners, but I'd have to say Snell is number 1 and Walker is number 2. Those guys were the best in the world in their time. They controlled their races and dominated all competitors.

Well, you chose to embarrass yourself in this fashion, I'll be brief:WORLD RECORDS (3)OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALFASTER MILE/1500 EQUIVALENT, RUN THIRTY-FIVE YEARS AGO.STILL HOLDS NATIONAL RECORDS FOR 1000,MILE,2000,3000MWe'll kindly leave off the the first ever 100+ sub-4:00 miles(135 total), top placement in World Cross-country, etc..

Get real wrote:

Kiwii,

I'm not sure what so-called ignorance would be highlighted by comparing John Walker to Nick Willis. Blather...

what a silly thread.

Willis is blatantly not 100% hence his last minute change of plan and bolt back to the US for treatment, altering flights etc.

He also has gone out of his way to keep this hush and not make excuses, hence you will not find a quote from him about the injury.

Riesley is good and can beat Nick on his own merits, and will prob run 3.30 this year, but this has no bearing on Nicks actions or injury.