One year, big changes | The rise of Tayleb Willis

A lot can happen in 365 days. Just ask Tayleb Willis.

On the cusp of securing his maiden Olympic berth after hurdling his way to number three on the Australian all-time list, his success this year is a far cry from how he ended his 2023 season.

“At the end of last season, I was really disappointed. I remember after my race at Nationals, I went straight to the toilet, cried and said to myself, “this is not the athlete I am. This is not the athlete I’m destined to be,” Willis said.

“And I reckon it was from that moment that I said, I am changing. I am doing everything right.”

On paper, the emerging star has gone from strength to strength since that moment. Finishing 2023 with a best of 13.85, Willis has now lowered his career best by more than 0.4 seconds, with his Top-10 all time list glittered with results from his breakthrough year.

Behind his success in 2024 is a credential team of three. With Australian record holder Kyle Vander-Kuyp and Sam Leslie in his corner as his coaches, as well as Olympic silver medallist John Steffensen as his mentor, Willis believes his childhood dream is imminent.

“Being an Olympian has been my goal since I was a young kid. I’ve got books that I wrote in when I was 10 years old saying that I was going to make it to the Olympics. If you go on my social media, you’ll see videos from when I was younger saying things just like it, so it’s always been my goal,” Willis said.

“But I'm just 21, I know it’s young. I knew I had to level up to be able to make that happen this year and that’s when Kyle and I got into contact.”

Together the trio have created a tightknit circle, further supported by Willis’ partner Bridgette.

“We’ve formed a really good little group there. We’re really close and I think that’s really helped me and given me the confidence this year when I’ve needed it,” he said.

“Having two great athletes surrounding you and believing in you is incredible. It shows in their knowledge too. You trust people more when you know that they’ve lived the life you want to live.”

“Kyle has been feeding me the goods that he’s done and then trying to help me not make the same mistakes that he made so I can hopefully get better than him,” he laughs.

The social media star who has more than 600,000 followers on TikTok said the changes in his coaching over the last 11 months have been transformative both on and off the track.

“I was a very messy hurdler throughout my junior years. I knew that if I was going to try and excel in the senior ranks that I need to try and find those extra little one percenters and those extra little milliseconds,” Willis said.

“But more than that I’ve matured up from a boy to a man in the space of a year. I think in every aspect of my life, not just athletics, I’ve matured.

“I back myself into competitions, and I back myself because I know I’ve done the work. If you can accept that, relax and execute, you’ll get the results that you deserve and that’s what has carried me to improve at this rate.”

While Willis made his mark in his junior years catapulting to fifth in the world at the 2022 World Under 20 Championships in Cali, he is most proud of his growth as a person en route to the Olympic Games.

“I used to think that to be the greatest, you needed to be thinking about athletics 24/7, and that I should only be athletics orientated and I shouldn’t have a life outside of athletics, but maturing up, I now know that I you can still be great and do other day to day activities.

“I’m a big believer of diving into my belief systems and doing all the one percenters. It’s surreal to know it’s paying off.”

By Sascha Ryner, Athletics Australia
Posted: 20/6/2024