Nick Willis' Commonwealth Games hopes in doubt after suffering a stress reaction in his leg

  • 06/02/2018
Willis may not race again until he arrives in Australia for hos Commonwealth Games tilt.
Willis may not race again until he arrives in Australia for hos Commonwealth Games tilt. Photo credit: Photosport

By Chris Forster

Top New Zealand athlete Nick Willis has a stress reaction in his fibula and faces a race against time to be fit for the Commonwealth Games, starting on April 4.

The 34-year-old has been selected for the 1500 metres, and was also entered in the 5000 metres when the New Zealand athletics team was named last week. 

The two-time Olympic medallist  says it is a career-first for him and would require careful management before April's pinnacle event.

Further pressure on the bone could result in a stress fracture.

As a result, Willis - currently based in the United States - also pulled out of the Indoor Grand Prix meet in Boston last weekend.

"I'll take a few weeks off to cross train and put 100 per cent of my focus on the 1500m at the Commonwealth Games," he wrote on social media.

Athletics New Zealand can't comment until they get a full medical report on the injury, but are hopeful he can make a recovery over the next nine weeks.

Willis, seeking a fourth Commonwealth medal, won gold in Melbourne in 2006, bronze in Delhi in 2010 and bronze at the last Games in Glasgow in 2014.

Newshub.