The event’s star is undoubtedly Olympic 1500m silver medallist Nick Willis, who has publicly stated his goal in Delhi this year is to not only defend his Commonwealth 1500m crown, but to emulate the legendary Peter Snell and add the 800m crown as well.  [Snell won the imperial equivalents, the half-mile and mile, at the Empire Games in Perth in 1962].

Aiming to throw a spanner in the works at Willis’ home track meet will be top Australians Jeff Riseley and Jeremy Roff, who unexpectedly claimed the scalps of Willis and Kenya’s Olympic gold medallist Asbel Kiprop in the 1500m race at the Melbourne Grand Prix 10 days ago.  Willis said when he flew into Christchurch today “That was a bit of a shock – I’ll definitely be out for some revenge on Thursday”. With Irish 800-1500 champion David Campbell, 4-times Australian champion Nick Bromley, and Canadian Geoff Harris also in the field, there are six athletes with personal bests of 1min47sec or faster – the strongest field since Auckland 1990, when British middle distance legend Sebastian Coe, in the twilight of his career, finished 6^th in 1min47.24s. 

Meet Director Craig Motley said “This is a phenomenal field to come together for a meet of this scale, and we are expecting to see some pretty fast times”.  Willis and Riseley in particular should be very evenly matched – their personal bests are just 6/100ths of a second different from each other, and both are just over a second outside Peter Snell’s New Zealand record, set when he smashed the world record at Lancaster Park in 1962. 

Also competing in the discus event at the meet will be former world champion and twice Commonwealth champion Beatrice Faumuina, against the current world champion Dani Samuels.

Tickets are on sale at QEII Stadium now, and at the gate on the night. Adults are $12, children 12 & under $6, and under-5's are free.  Premium allocated Gold Seating is $20.  The international section of the programme starts at 6.30pm - go to www.internationaltrackmeet.co.nz for more details.

Nick Willis, the Beijing Olympic Games 1500m silver medallist, and Kenyan Asbel Kiprop, the gold medallist, could meet in a 1500 metres clash at the International Track Meet in Christchurch on March 18.

Kiprop and Willis were originally placed second and third in the Beijing final which was won by Moroccan-born Bahrain runner Rashid Ramzi.

Ramzi was later banned after returning a positive drug test and Kiprop and Willis were subsequently awarded the gold and silver medals.

The two will clash in a meeting in Melbourne a few days before the Christchurch meeting, and the organisers are hopeful they can attract the Kenyan across the Tasman.

If Kiprop cannot come to Christchurch, then the organisers hope to present Willis with his silver medal. Kiprop has received his gold medal.

Click here to read the full article on Stuff.co.nz

Former world discus champion Beatrice Faumuina is the latest international superstar to confirm an appearance at the International Track Meet on March 18^th at QEII Stadium in Christchurch.
Faumuina, the first New Zealander to win a world championships gold medal with her victory in the discus in 1997, is one of the established superstars of New Zealand athletics, and has had an extremely strong season in 2010 so far, with consistently her best performances for several years in winning the Capital Classic in Wellington, the Sylvia Potts Classic in Hastings, and the Cooks Classic in Wanganui, all with throws well beyond the Commonwealth Games qualifying distance of 56m.   She has now broken the qualifying standard six times so far this season, with a best performance of 61.11m in Wellington last month.  She will be hoping to repeat her 1998 and 2002 Commonwealth Games gold medals later this year in New Delhi, and is looking forward to continuing her rich vein of form at the ITM as she consistently throws further than the 60m mark.
Faumuina said today “I am looking forward to coming to compete in the International Meet in Christchurch, this is the first time the discus has been on the programme at this meet. QEII is such a great venue, and always gets a lot of public support”. It will be the first time she has competed in Christchurch since 2006.
Meet Director Craig Motley said “We are very pleased to secure an athlete of the calibre of Beatrice, she has been one of NZ track and field’s shining lights for the last 15 or more years and is clearly back in excellent shape.  She really hasn’t been pushed this year, so we will certainly be looking to bring a strong international performer for her to compete against, to bring out the best in her.”
Faumuina was ranked third in the Commonwealth in 2009, and on performances so far this year would now be up to number two, behind the current world champion, Australian Dani Samuels.

For further details contact Paul Coughlan, or Leyton Tremain

For further meet information go to www.internationaltrackmeet.co.nz

 2010 International Track Meet

Track and Field at its best in New Zealand.

2010 Promo video compiled from Sky TV coverage highlights from the inaugural 2009 ITM where Monique Williams claimed the NZ Resident Women's 200m record, David Ambler eclipsed Jamacian Don Quarrie's Men's 100m stadium record set at the 1974 Commonwealth Games and lowered his U/19 NZ record while Australian Ryan Gregson reclaimed his Australian U/19 3000m record.

Make sure you are there on the 18th March 2010.

www.internationaltrackmeet.co.nz

Nick Willis to run in Christchurch event

By RICHARD KNOWLER - The Press

Olympic 1500m medallist Nick Willis has been confirmed to run in Christchurch next year, although in which event remains uncertain.

Willis has told the International Track Meet organisers he will contest either the 800m or 1500m at QEII on March 18. The Kiwi athlete is expected to be upgraded from the bronze to the silver medal following the International Olympics Committee's decision to strip Bahrain's Rashid Ramzi of the gold for doping in Beijing in 2008.

"He's not 100 per cent sure at this stage what events he will be in, but he has confirmed he will be competing at the meeting. He will wait and decide that in early January," meet organiser Leyton Tremain said. "I guess he will see how his preparation goes."

Willis is expected to spend about six weeks in New Zealand during the summer and will train with the Kiwirun tour in the North Island before returning to the United States.

There he is likely to enter the Reebok Boston Indoor Games on February 6.

The 26-year-old will also race at the national championships in Christchurch 10 days after the International Track Meet.

Willis was eager to compete in the International Mile race this year but was forced to withdraw because of a hamstring injury.

"He expressed a desire to want to compete in New Zealand and to bring athletes of his calibre to our shores, so that is why we are speaking to him and why the concept arose," Tremain said.

"It is a chance to race at home and an opportunity to help grow and develop the sport," he said.Willis might be wise not to hold his breath regarding an Olympic medal upgrade because Ramzi can still appeal via the Court of Arbitration.

Olympic gold medallist Valerie Vili is unlikely to enter the Christchurch event because of a crammed programme.

The shot putter is scheduled to attend the world indoor championships in Qatar the weekend before and the chances of being ready to compete again following a quick turnaround seem unlikely.

"She is someone we would love to get to our meeting, but unfortunately she is not competing until Sunday evening and our event is on the Thursday. Unfortunately, with all the travel there is not going to be enough time for her to be fresh enough to compete," Tremain said.

More than 3000 spectators were estimated to have attended last season's event, which broke even.

A volunteer organising committee runs the event on behalf of Athletics Canterbury.

Twenty-three athletes from five countries attended last season and it is hoped more will attend next year.

Where there's a Willis there's a way to hold a meet

NEW ZEALAND'S biggest track meeting in more than a decade is back on the calendar for 2010, with Olympic bronze medallist Nick Willis again involved in attracting world-class overseas athletes to compete in this country.

Christchurch's International Track Meet last March drew more than 3000 spectators to QEII Stadium - the best turnout for an athletics event in New Zealand in nearly 20 years.
Willis was pivotal in securing several top Americans and while he withdrew, injured, days before the event, he still fronted to sign autographs.
The meet broke even, prompting organiser Leyton Tremain to confirm yesterday that it would be held again in 2010 at the same venue on Thursday, March 18-10 days before the national athletics championships, also at QEII Stadium.
Last year, 23 athletes from five countries came here, including several top Australians and leading British middle- distance runner Andy Baddeley, and Tremain expects an increased overseas field next year, based on feedback from top Melbourne-based Kiwi 10km specialist Jason Woolhouse.

"Rumours and word of mouth is that there is a lot of interest," says Tremain, who will begin approaching athletes this week.
"People have been asking what our plans are . . . and we hope that the meeting will be bigger and better. Some of those Australian guys who didn't travel and were reserving judgement in year one are now keen to come over."

Tremain says several athletes used last year's meet as a springboard to more success. Jeff Riseley, who ran a personal best at the meet, went on to run a 3min 51sec mile in Europe while Collis Birmingham, second in the mile, later broke the Australian 10km record.
But Tremain says the purpose of the meet is to create strong fields for emerging Kiwi athletes to test themselves against and he plans to tailor- make races to suit runners such as Kiwi 200m runner Monique Williams. He says he won't expand the programme but is targeting much deeper fields.

"We've proven New Zealand can be competitive with the rest of the world," he says.
"Maybe people thought the world had moved on and we could no longer compete, but we have proven we can and we will target those events where we are competitive."

But he knows the crowd will be attracted by New Zealand's elite athletes - Willis, Valerie Vili and Kimberley Smith. Tremain says he has already talked to Vili's coach, Kirsten Hellier, and she is keen to compete but will have been involved in the world indoor championships a week earlier.
Willis is also unconfirmed. He will be returning to Wellington over the holiday season to help his brother Stephen launch a running tours venture, but the wedding of his best friend, top Canadian runner Nate Brannen, may clash with the Christchurch event.
Even if he doesn't compete, Willis will have a role.

"Nick is very passionate about the meet, and he understands the importance of it for the sport," says Tremain. "He doesn't look at it as a race for himself but as an instrumental development tool for Kiwi athletes."

Meanwhile, the New Zealand xterra (off-road triathlon) championships are in Rotorua next Saturday, with Steven O'Callaghan and Kyle MacDonald and Ady Ngawati and Lara Phillips in the women's, both pros and age-group athletes qualify for the world trail running championships in Hawaii in December.

Steve Kilgallon - Sunday Star-Times