University of Michigan men's track standouts Nate Brannen and Nick Willis will be sitting out the NCAA outdoor season to focus on training for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. MGoBlue.com will follow the progress of Brannen and Willis in their bids to qualify for and compete in the Olympic Games. ASK THE ATHLETE: Have a question for Nate, Nick or their coach, Ron Warhurst? Send us an e-mail! We will periodically select a handful of questions and post the responses on this site. Read the first set of responses!
To qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games, Brannen must run both the 'A' and 'B' qualifying standards in the 800-meter run prior to July 11 as well as place among the top four finishers in the event at the Canadian National Championships. Brannen is also looking at the possibility of qualifying in the 1,500-meter run, for which he would need to run the 'A' standard. 800 meters 'A' Standard (1:45.71) 'B' Standard (1:46.75) Top-4 finish (in 800m) at the Canadian National Championships 1,500 meters 'A' Standard (3:36.20) To qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games, Willis must run the 'A' qualifying standard in the 1,500-meter run prior to July 14. If he can run the 'B' standard in the 800-meter run, he will likely qualify in that event as well. 1,500 meters 'A' Standard (3:36.20) 800 meters 'B' Standard (1:47.00)		May 1 Jesse Owens Classic Columbus, Ohio :: website | recap May 7-8 Len Paddock Invitational Ann Arbor, Mich. :: website | recap June 5 Oregon Track Classic Gresham, Ore. :: website | recap June 11 Victoria International Track Classic Victoria, B.C. :: website | recap June 19 Prefontaine Classic Eugene, Ore. :: website | recap June 27 Norwich Union Super Grand Prix Gateshead, England :: website | recap June 29 IAAF Grand Prix Zagreb 2004 Zagreb, Croatia :: recap July 2 Golden Gala Rome, Italy :: website | recap July 4 Meeting Citta Di Padova Padova, Italy :: recap July 9-11 Canadian Track and Field Championships & Olympic Trials Victoria, B.C. :: website | recap July 31 KBC Night of Athletics Heusden-Zolder, Belguim :: website Aug. 6 Weltklasse Zurich Zurich, Switzerland :: website Aug. 13-29 Olympic Games Athens, Greece :: website • Athletics Canada • Canadian Olympic Committee • Athletics New Zealand • New Zealand Olympic Committee		• Nate Brannen • Nick Willis • The Road to Athens • Glossary of Terms • July 12-18 • July 5-11 • June 28-July 4 • June 21-27 • June 14-20 • June 7-13 • May 31-June 6 • May 24-30 • May 17-23 • May 10-16 • May 3-9 • April 26-May 2 • April 19-25 • April 12-18 » Site Feedback