Ramzi wins 1,500 for Bahrain’s first track gold

BEIJING (AP)—Rashid Ramzi won gold in Tuesday’s 1,500 meters in Beijing to give Bahrain its first ever Olympic medal.

The Morocco native crossed the line in 3 minutes, 32.94 seconds, while Kipruto Kiprop of Kenya took silver in 3:33.11 and Michigan-based Nicholas Willis of New Zealand got the bronze in 3:34.16.

“Bahrain is a small country, so winning gold is a very big thing,” Ramzi said.

Ramzi, the 2005 world champion over 800 and 1,500, said he had been training since 2002 and that missing out on qualifying for the 1,500 final at the 2004 Athens Olympics had been a powerful motivator.

“I had many problems along the way, but they were positive experiences and I learned from the problems,” said Ramzi, who holds the rank of sergeant in Bahrain’s palace guard but spends much of the year training at high altitude in the land of his birth.

Ramzi said he was still debating whether to run in the 5,000-meter race, for which heats begin Wednesday. Problems adjusting to the seven-hour time difference were making it hard to get sufficient rest at night, he said.

Willis said his third-place showing furthered the legacy of New Zealand 1,500-meter Olympic champions Jack Lovelock (1936), Peter Snell (1964), and John Walker (1976).

“This is huge for New Zealand and for athletics in general,” said Willis, who trains under famed University of Michigan coach Ron Walhurst. “We have such a rich tradition … to get a bronze, to me, means just as much.”

Willis said he hoped his humble beginnings in a small New Zealand town where track and field wasn’t popular would inspire young athletes from similar backgrounds, particularly in the face of stiff competition from an increasingly globalized field.

“The standard of competition and the spread that this sport has reached worldwide … sometimes we struggle to compete against the Africans. I feel like I’m representing a huge range of track and field fans so its just a real honor to be able to carry the mantle and reach the medal podium,” Willis said.

Willis said he looked forward to traveling with the medal as a form of outreach.

“I really enjoy public speaking and this is going to provide that opportunity, and I really believe that this is part of my calling to do that so I welcome that,” he said.

Willis said Walker and others had foreseen his achievement even when he hadn’t.

“My massage therapist said ‘there’s something about it Nic, where you don’t necessarily see it, but it oozes out of you that you believe that you can do this stuff,’” Willis said.

“I don’t neccessarily realize that, but the fact that everyone else sees that just reminds me,” he said.

Mehdi Baala of France, a two-time European champion and world championship silver medalist in 2003, was fourth in the race.

Bernard Lagat, who edged Ramzi at the 2007 world championships, was eliminated in the semifinals.