Athletics: Willis creates a moment to savour

It's a sight most of us wondered whether we'd see again - a black singlet out in front, dominating rivals in a major championship.

Nick Willis, the kid from the Hutt Valley who wears his Christianity on his sleeve, reignited the torch that was extinguished when John Walker retired in 1990.

No, it wasn't the strongest 1500m field ever assembled. Yes, the most talented athlete in the pack - aside from Willis - fell at the 700m and never recovered. No, it wasn't a world-beating time.

Those are all valid discussion points for the cold light of day; they had no place on a warm McG night.

Just enjoy the fact you're reading this on the first day that we can say we have the Commonwealth Games 1500m champion; the day that we no longer have to point at Anne Audain's 3000m victory at Brisbane in 1982 as the last time we won gold on the track.

While Willis, who was ill 10 days ago and unsure he'd be at his best, made it look so easy, it was anything but for those watching. When he went at the 400m there was a nervous energy that rippled around a New Zealand press corps more accustomed to failure than success. Bums left seats, objectivity left the building.

Around the 200m it looked like the field might be inching up to Willis, breathing became more constricted, and we're not talking about the athlete here. At the 150m mark Willis visualised his coach Ron Warhurst standing there shouting at him as he always does when he races in the States: "Relax those arms Nicholas. Relax." The arms relaxed, the gap widened. Down the home straight you knew the race was won but refused to accept it. The arms outstretched, the line crossed, a moment of genuflection.

Willis is no longer the promising athlete. He is no longer the boy who could follow in the footsteps of Lovelock, Snell and Walker. He is now the man chosen to follow that path. And he is acutely aware of his place in history. He is a student of the sport, as much a fan of runners as he is one.

"They haven't been too bad have they," he said when asked about the Legends of the Black Singlet. "It's a great honour to be even brought up in the same sentence as those guys ... but I didn't run the 4x400m leg like Snell did a couple of hours earlier," he laughed, recalling Peter Snell's astonishing feats in Perth, 1962.

How he deals with the pressure of expectation now is anybody's guess. My guess is he will be fine. He'll get better and he'll win plenty more big races because he wants it so badly.

He has strong beliefs - he must have felt there was an angel on his shoulder keeping him upright when it looked for all money like he was going to trip and fall during his heat - but his keenest belief is in his own ability.

Paul Hamblyn, who ran an excellent fourth, said Willis was supremely relaxed before the race. Only the most talented can project that sort of calm before such a career-defining race.

Standing there on the dais with that smile fixed on his face it was obvious how much it meant to him. Hopefully he realises how much it means to us.

-HERALD ON SUNDAY