Rio Olympics 2016: Nick Willis trumps porn on way to bronze

Five months after Nick Willis admitted publicly to battling a porn addiction, he won a bronze medal in the Rio 2016 Olympics. Photo / Getty

Olympic bronze medalist Nick Willis makes no understatement when he says it's been "an interesting year".

Five months on from a public admission of his struggles with pornography, Willis has moved into Olympic history with another medal in the 1500m, joining some of New Zealand's most renowned legends.

His late dash to the line saw him secure third place, eight years on from his silver in Beijing.

And with so much happening for Willis off the track, he hasn't shied away from the issues he's faced.

"Yeah, it's obviously been an interesting year from a media standpoint. I made a statement about my stance on pornography back in March and it's been really awesome to have so many people supporting me with that throughout this time," Willis told TVNZ's Breakfast.

"It's something I didn't want to focus too much on as I got into the Olympics.

"It's been really awesome to get probably a thousand different people in the few months since that time to say, 'hey, that really meant a lot, this is something that we are dealing with in our family, this has really encouraged us' ... I have had a huge amount of support with that."

Willis also took time to talk about his performance on the track and the lasting legacy he's helped maintain.

"New Zealanders as a whole, they love the 1500m, I don't know why," he said, adding that he had been "forced into" running the event, having started out wanting to excel at the 800m.

"But people really, really love this event and it's just been a privilege to represent all of you back home in Aotearoa.

"I'm trying to keep the tradition going from Lovelock, Snell, Walker, Davies, Dixon ... all of the great names that just roll off the tongue in New Zealand sporting folklore."