27 Feb 2011

Willis awarded Olympic silver medal

8:44 am on 27 February 2011

Middle distance runner Nick Willis has been presented with an Olympic silver medal at a ceremony in New Zealand.

Willis was originally awarded the bronze medal in the 1500 metre race at the Bejing Olympics in 2008.

He was elevated to second after the winner, Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain, tested positive for a banned substance.

The ceremony was scheduled to take place in Christchurch, but because of the earthquake was moved to Wellington.

It doubled as a fundraiser for the earthquake victims, with those attending donating more than $20,000 to the Salvation Army earthquake appeal. Donations were also taken for the Red Cross appeals.