Athletics: Willis, Farquhar to compete at Prefontaine

Nick Willis. Photo / Getty Images

Olympic 1500 metres silver medallist Nick Willis will line up tomorrow in the star-studded Bowerman Mile at the famous Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, round four of the IAAF Diamond League.

Willis has the 10th fastest mile time in the field, with seven competitors boasting personal bests under 3 minutes 50 seconds.

Willis' best of 3 minutes 50.66 seconds, was recorded when he finished second at the Prefontaine Classic in 2008, just months before his Beijing success.

The New Zealand 1500m record holder finished 10th in 2011 in a time of 3m 51.95, his second-fastest mile.

He would like to go under the 3m 50s mark and challenge John Walker's New Zealand record of 3m 49.08.

Stuart Farquhar leads the world in javelin for 2012 with a personal best of 86.31 metres, but in Eugene will be up German world champion Matthias de Zordo.

Also in the field are five other finalists from the 2011 world championships. Although six in the field have thrown further than the New Zealand champion in previous years, none have got further than Farquhar in 2012.

Meanwhile one of the New Zealand medallists from the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, Andrea Miller begins her 2012 London campaign with a 100m hurdles race in Geneva on Sunday night.

Miller, the New Zealand record holder at 13.10 seconds, set the record winning the Geneva meeting in 2009 and is chasing the Olympic selection standard of 12.96 seconds. Her most recent race was the New Zealand championships at Waitakere in March, where she ran 13.49s.

New Zealand's Olympic marathon hope Kimberley Smith will run in the San Diego Rock N Roll Half Marathon on Monday morning (NZ time), aiming to continue her winning habit over the distance in the US.