Athletics: Inspiration the fuel for Olympic engines

By EUGENE BINGHAM in Athens

Lining up in what would be the race of his life - the 3 3/4 laps which sent him to Athens - Nick Willis was inspired by the thought that he was about to run on the very track that had witnessed this country's golden hour of sport.

For Olympic team chef de mission Dave Currie, the memory of his late friend, John Davies, inspired him to run the first part of the marathon course in Athens this week.

Be they Olympians or self-confessed "broken-down marathoners", inspiration is what drives us to achieve and make us strive to be the very best we can.

The Olympics are a once-in-four-year opportunity to study humanity, to gain insights into the character of people who are the best in the world at their chosen discipline.

Are the things that inspire Olympians more powerful than those that inspire mere mortals like the rest of us? Or is it that champions know how to use inspiration to make them higher, faster and stronger?

Currie revealed yesterday that he and several other team officials ran the first 10km of the 42.2km road from the town of Marathon to Athens early one morning.

It was part of a pact he made with Davies, the 1964 Olympic 1500m bronze medallist who embraced the spirit of the Games and was the New Zealand Olympic Committee president at the time of his death.

"John and I talked about it 18 months ago, but, of course, John didn't make it," Currie said.

He made a silent prayer to Davies before setting off.

To Willis, the fast-rising 1500m runner from Wellington, prayer is an important part of what makes him run hard.

"I can't believe that God is not trying to use me as a tool - I am surprised by what my body allows me to do," he said yesterday.

"For a slightly chubby 21-year-old, 3m 32s is pretty good."

Willis said the feats of Sir Murray Halberg and Peter Snell had also helped him to make the Olympic team and become a contender for the final.

When he arrived in the athletes' village on Tuesday, he had an opportunity to talk to Halberg about how he had set his qualifying mark to make the team on the same track in Rome where Halberg and Snell won gold in 1960.

"I definitely thought about it before the meet, that it was the place of New Zealand's golden hour in track and field, and saw it as a good opportunity to establish my mark where they had.

"It helps take a lot of the doubt away, knowing that Peter Snell, Murray Halberg, John Walker and Jack Lovelock conquered the world and they weren't scared."

Willis has read Snell's book, No Bugles, No Drums, five or six times.

Although his international athletic career is just beginning, he is already edging closer to the times set by his track role models.

His run in Rome last month made him the second-fastest Kiwi over 1500m behind Walker; when he set an 800m personal best two weeks ago, it took him to just over a second behind Snell's national record.

"The 800m went really well, but the 1500m [in Zurich on Friday when he was eighth in 3m 34s] placed a little bit of doubt in my mind.

"It takes a little bit of the pressure off me, so now I can aim to make the final, and not perhaps have people expect more."

The Olympic challenge is turning the weight of expectation from a burden to a source of inspiration.