Athletics: Willis into 1500m final

New Zealand's Nick Willis. Photo / Greg Bowker.

Nick Willis is through to the final of the 1500m at the World Championships in Athletics in Beijing after finishing second in his semi-final heat.

The Beijing Olympic Games 1500m silver medallist finished behind Olympic champion Asbel Kiprop of Kenya in a time of 3:43.57.

Julian Matthews missed out on a spot in the final after finishing in eleventh place in 3:40.45.

"It's disappointing it ended that way but it has been a good championship for me and I've learnt a lot from it, it would have been nice to have been a bit more competitive there at the end," said Matthews.

"I did everything I could, I just didn't have it and when you don't have it you don't have it. It's a long last lap when you're off the back."

Matthews finished in 16th place.

"That's pretty good, I'm happy with that, coming in at 40th and finishing sixteenth. It's been an awesome experience and had a great time with the team and hopefully I can up my game for Rio," said Matthews.