Willis ninth in men's 1500m

New Zealand's Nick Willis has missed out on a medal in the men's 1500m at the London Olympics.

Willis, the silver medallist in Beijing four years ago, got away well from the inside draw and settled about fifth off a modest early pace.

He snuck up to second with a lap to go but couldn't quicken as the pace was poured on in the last 300m and ended up ninth.

Algeria's Taoufik Makloufi, who was reinstated to the field after being disqualified for not trying in the 800m, won the gold in a time of 3 minutes 34.08 seconds.

The silver medal went to Leonel Manzano from the United States and Abdalaati Iguider of Morocco won the bronze.