Kiwii,
Maybe you should READ what I wrote. At this stage of his career Willis has accomplished about the same as Walker. That is what I was pointing out.
But since you brought some of this up, I'll gladly expound on it:
World Records: 3 - outstanding...what will you say when Willis surpasses these times just like he has others that Walker ran and they aren't world record performances?
Olympic Gold Medal- Yes in 1976...cough, boycott. You can not even compare the depth in 1976 to 30 years later. Was Walker good? YES, he was VERY good, but he wasn't up against the depth of characters that have through over recent years. Kenya alone cranks out 3-4 new John Walker's a year.
Faster Mile/1500m equivalent - hmmm...So Willis's PR's and nationals records outdoor and indoor at 1500m don't count?
National Records at other distances...Yes again I believe once Willis's career is over he'll probably take care of these as well since he probably has barely run the events listed thus far.
Sub 4:00 mile record...A tremendous achievement and a tribute to Walker's longevity. Again what do you want from Willis at age 26? Walker competed through 1990 at age 38. Lets revisit this conversation in 12 years.
World Cross Country...yes great! But once again you left out the part about it not including the African continent in the 70's.
John Walker was an AMAZING runner in his day, but I believe as with most legends sometimes people forget to look at whole story when comparing to others.
Maybe you could simply just say, yeah the Willis kid is pretty good. An Olympic Silver and a Commonwealth Gold isn't too bad. Plus the 1500m was only John Walker's main event and the kid broke his national record so he's probably pretty decent too.