KEY POINTS:
For a race which sealed his longed-for place in an Olympic 1500m final, Nick Willis could not have dreamt of a stranger or more satisfying semi-final.
He screamed at the field to go faster. The world champion and two-time Olympic silver-medallist missed out. And, most importantly, he ran the smartest race of his life, finishing in a safe fifth place in a time of 3min 37.54s.
Willis, 25, early today became the first New Zealander to make a track final at the Olympics since 800m runner Toni Hodgkinson in 1996, and the first in a 1500m final since Tony Rogers, who finished ninth in Los Angeles in 1984.
Now he has a chance of adding his name alongside the legendary line-up of New Zealand 1500m medallists - Jack Lovelock, Peter Snell, John Davies, Rod Dixon and John Walker.
He revealed after the race, the second semi-final, that the pace was so slow, he was loudly urging his opponents on. The first five of each semi-final automatically qualified, as well as the next two fastest from either race.
"I don't know whether it's bad sportsmanship, but the first lap I was yelling, 'come-on guys, pick up the pace, we've got a chance to get seven guys through in this heat'. That's how pedestrian it was.
"It's the Olympic games semi-final so that's a pretty comical experience to realise I did that. I really felt like that was a wasted opportunity for some of the guys to miss out from our heat. Going in the second semi-final, you should always get the extra two through."
Willis looked nervous on the startline of his semi-final, but started the race calmly, moving to the inside line early and tucking himself in a safe seventh position.
The race started with a first lap of 60.47sec. The second lap was even slower - almost 62sec. They obviously were not listening to Willis.
"The Kenyan [Augustine Kiprono] Choge is a 5000m specialist, he won the Commonwealth Games 5000m, so he's not very good running in a pack like that," said Willis. "He wanted to push the pace along but each time the Spaniard covered his move and it's hard to make a move if you think every time they move he's going to hold me up. So they were doing a bit of ebb-and-flow fartlek."
At the bell Willis was in fourth and looking comfortable, avoiding a near fall. He manoeuvred himself into a safe position going around the final bend and squeezed through a gap when Spaniard Arturo Casado ran out of gas and came to a virtual stop. Willis forced his way into fifth - enough to claim his spot, but conserve energy for the final.
The heat was won by Rashid Ramzi in a time of 3min 37.11s - all five finishers were within 0.43s of each other.
Sensationally, Kenyan-born American Bernard Lagat, missed the final, finishing one place behind Willis, destroying the world champion's dream of achieving the 1500m-5000m double.
"I tried to follow the pace, follow the strategies I made," said Lagat. "I feel bad that it didn't go well. There was a lot of boxing and a lot of pushing. I was worried about someone going down. I gave it my all, but I want to feel I didn't let [my family] down. I gave everything I had."
Neither of the other Americans, Lopez Lomong and Leonel Manzano, made it either.
Ramzi said he too was concerned about the pace and rough and tumble. "There was too much pushing and shoving," said Ramzi. "The race was too slow. We were surprised that the best three times were in semi-final one."
The first heat was won by Asbel Kipruto Kiprop, the 19-year-Kenyan sensation who kicked to the front as the field hit the home straight, then cruised to the line in a time of 3min 37.04s. He came a close fourth in the world championship final last year after emerging from nowhere to win the world junior cross country title.
Willis, 25, made the semi-finals in Athens four years ago where he finished sixth and was disappointed he had not made the final.
He said he would think of Hodgkinson's run of 1996 as he prepared for the final on Tuesday night Beijing time (2.50am NZ time).
"I remember [her] running the race of her life to get in [the final]. she struggled in the final and I've got to make sure I capitalise on this opportunity. Last year in Osaka [at the world championships] I made the final but on the startline I thought I would enjoy it." He finished 10th.
"I've had that experience now. Now it's time to get in the mix."
