China’s superstar

Published : Aug 09, 2008 00:00 IST

AP
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AP

One of China’s best known athletes, Liu Xiang carries the hopes of the entire nation at the Beijing Olympics. After winning the 110m hurdles gold in the 2004 Olympics — the first male athlete from China to do so — Xiang became a household name. That was a fantastic performance in Athens, where he clocked 12.91seconds to equal the world record held by Colin Jackson.

In the build-up to the Beijing Games, Xiang has been appearing in all the TV channels in China. He is even staring down from advertisement hoardings on the road side. Two years after that famous win in the Olympics, Xiang rewrote his own record (12.88s) in the IAAF Super Grand Prix in Lausanne, Switzerland. And the following year, Xiang won the 110m hurdles title at the World Championships in Osaka, Japan.

However, following a hamstring injury he suffered in May this year, people believe Xiang is not the same force anymore. He missed the Reebok Grand Prix in May and had a second false start in the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon, USA. After skipping the Reebok meet, Liu had clocked a poor 13.18s in closed outdoor trials.

“Liu Xiang’s current condition is not good for his Olympic performance,” said the hurdler’s coach Sun Haiping. Xiang’s competitors, too, are setting benchmarks in their own way. In June, Dayron Robles of Cuba set a world record (12.87s) in the Golden Spike International Meet in Ostrava, Czech Republic. David Oliver, who ran a career-best 12.95s in the US Olympic trials recently, too cannot be dismissed so easily. Same is the case with America’s Terrence Trammell.

Xiang, though, has been training very hard. The only son of a lorry driver and a pastry cook, Xiang could well make history if he wins gold in Beijing — a a back to back Olympics title in high hurdles, a feat achieved only by Lee Calhoun and Roger Kingdom.

K. Keerthivasan

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