Whanganui's Cooks Gardens hosts the first Tokyo Olympic qualifying event in the world

Sam Tanner will be hoping for a 1.57 800m pace at Cooks Gardens on Tuesday to set himself up for a mid 3.30s 1500m and improve his rankings for the Tokyo Olympics.

The eyes of the athletic world will once again be focused on Whanganui's legendary Cooks Gardens come Tuesday evening.

The qualifying period for the Tokyo Olympics opens on December 1 and of course New Zealand awakens to that day first.

And that means the 1500 metre event carded for the normal Athletics Wanganui club night at Cooks Gardens on Tuesday will be the first opportunity in the world for athletes to improve their global rankings.

Given the date and the added importance the 1500m event now carries, a top field is expected to assemble.

The race is scheduled for 8.30pm at the end of the weekly club night programme, but will go back to 9pm if there is a likelihood of any wind dying by the later time (the time of many of the fast races at Cooks).

New Zealand middle distance coach Steve Willis, brother of top Kiwi runner and Olympic medallist, Nick Willis, will be looking for solid performances from some of our Olympic hopefuls.

Leading that charge will be Sam Tanner and Eric Speakman who will both be opening their bids for Tokyo qualification in Whanganui on Tuesday, the official reopening of the Tokyo qualifying period.

They will be paced by Rio 1500m Olympian Hamish Carson.

"The pace Sam is asking for is 1.57 (for the 800m) and 2.55 for the 1200m to set him up for performance in the mid to high 3.30s for the 1500m," Steve Willis said.

"Both are currently unranked on the Tokyo performance ranking lists, meaning they are yet to post five eligible performances within the qualification period.

"Both will be looking to be ranked within the top 40 when the New Zealand qualification period closes," Willis said.

Former Whanganui Collegiate runner Geordie Beamish is currently ranked 56th, Julian Oakley 42nd and Nick Willis 29th. The other ticket to Tokyo would be to run the A standard of 3.35.00.

Tanner, a student athlete at University of Washington, is currently back in New Zealand for the summer and Speakman a secondary school teacher in Wellington.

Both coming off a great winter of training and both athletes attended the recent Athletics New Zealand distance hub in the Hawkes Bay where they trained together for a number of key workouts.

Willis said the Cooks Gardens track is recognised as one of New Zealand's premier venues for distance performances.

"We chose Whanganui for this race for it's still conditions later in the evening, where the wind tends to drop off around 9pm and when the lights go on a little bit of magic happens," Willis said.

He was, of course, alluding to his bother Nick Willis' clash with Craig Motram and stopping the clock at 3.52 for the mile in 2007.

Tanner will be hoping to better the metric equivalent of Willis's mark on Tuesday.

A number of other younger athletes will be along for the ride.

The next key 1500m race will be the Tauranga twilight meet on January 1 in Tauranga, which Tanner, Speakman, Beamish, Oakley and Carson will all be targeting.