The Wolverine

December 2016

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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70 THE WOLVERINE DECEMBER 2016   WHERE ARE THEY NOW? nine years now of our marriage, and we bring our son with us, as well. She was in the Olympic Village with me, and she has been for every one of my races since we got married. "You need a whole team to create your own environment for it to be successful long term. That's what we decided to do when we got married." Like everyone, he's experienced highs and lows in a grueling profes- sion. His 2008 Olympic performance made him an international star in the sport; four years later it was the agony of defeat when he failed to medal at the London Olympics after entering with high expectations. It wasn't anything to do with his abil- ity or his fitness, he said — he just peaked at the wrong time — but the experience left him uncertain of his future. After spending the following two years running Grand Prix races, how- ever, he realized he needed more. "I got myself caught up in worry- ing about what the public thought of my performance, the expectations. I let that weigh me down too much," he said of London. "For a long, long period of time, I wasn't sure if I wanted to com- mit myself again to putting all my eggs into the basket of the Olympic Games, because if it doesn't work out you think, 'That was a waste of time.' "After two years of that I realized I had to get over this mental barrier of am I willing to take that risk again, because you really miss out. The only true joy can come when you put a lot on the line and have failure out there as a strong possibility." He came back stronger than ever and with a different perspective. He took everything that worked in his career, got rid of everything that didn't and came up with a formula to focus on the Olympics only. He didn't know much about the rest of the field (by design), came to Rio in the best shape of his life and focused on himself, not the competition. When the time came to warm up, he avoided bumping shoulders with his competitors on the track outside the stadium and ran through the con- course of the coliseum instead. "I was dodging tens of thousands of people going in and out, just like dodging people in and out at Michi- gan Stadium during halftime," he recalled with a laugh. "I wanted to be focused on my own world. That's the approach I took for these Games." In what was a slow-paced final, Willis finished with a time of 3:50:24 to place third behind American Matt Centrowitz and defending Olympic champion Taoufik Makhloufi of Al- geria. He moved into medal position with 100 meters remaining and held on. "At the end of the day, whether it was fast or slow, I think it would have been the same five or six guys with 100 meters to go, and it just came down to planning. It was three races, not just the one," he said of the qualify- ing rounds. "We had to handle three rounds and timed our peak just right for that day in August 2016." Willis was told growing up dis- tance runners reached their zenith between 24 and 27 years old. His next mission is to prove that age is only a number, even on the track. "I think that peak age has been pushed up, and in this age of profes- sionalism people can make a living at it compared to the past, when it was an amateur sport and they had to get a real job," he said. "Those of us able to make a living of it are not detract- ing from our family or our futures. "I'm hoping to go another four years into the Tokyo Olympics. I've decided to take a longer break after the season than normal and spend a couple months off at our cottage in Northern Michigan. It's been a nice change of focus." Soon it will be back to trying to make history again, a challenge he's already met once. ❏ Michigan Accomplishments: Lettered from 2003-05 … Michigan record holder in the 3,000-meter run and 5,000-meter run … Also a part of three record- setting relay teams … Five-time NCAA All-American and a six-time Big Ten cham- pion … Two-time NCAA champion, winning the mile run (indoor; 2005) and running a leg of the first-place distance medley relay (indoor; 2005) … Runner- up in the 3,000-meter run at the 2004 NCAA Championships and a finalist in the 1,500-meter run at the 2003 NCAA Championships … 2003 Big Ten Fresh- man of the Year for both the indoor and outdoor seasons and was named Most Outstanding Male Athlete in the Relays twice at the Penn Relays. Olympic Accomplishments: Willis won a silver Medal in the 1,500 me- ters at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and bronze at the 2016 Olympics at the age of 33, becoming the oldest man to ever medal in the event. Michigan Memory: Willis broke individual records at Michigan, but partaking in the Penn Relays with his teammates in Philadelphia stands out. "Running is such an individual sport, and even though you score for your team at meets, they are still individual races. Running on a relay team was something special," he said. "I went to a school in New Zealand where sport wasn't really thought of as anything important. At Michigan you ride the bus, show up in your nice uniforms, go to a meet and people are looking at you like, 'Wow — there are the Michigan guys.' "You felt a sense of invincibility that we are going to beat you just because we were wearing the block 'M.'" Current Occupation: In addition to running, Willis is co-founder of mil- ermethod.com, "bringing mile training to the masses." Family: Willis and his wife, Sierra, have been married nine years and have a 3-year-old son, Lachlan. They reside between Ann Arbor and New Zealand and also have a summer cottage in Northern Michigan. The Nick Willis File During his U-M career, Willis won two NCAA Championships, five NCAA All- America citations and six Big Ten crowns. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS

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