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China's expectations for Liu Xiang

(Timesonline)
Updated: 2008-07-24 13:16

His time was 12.87sec, which Liu greeted, with his customary measured courtesy, by saying: "I had expected it to happen some-day, as Robles is very capable of running under 12.90sec. He has been my main rival over the past two years. Neither of us will show mercy at the Olympics, so lets wait and see what happens then."

Liu's coach simply regarded the loss of the world record as motivation for his charge to work harder. However, this was not the end of the bad news for the Chinese. In the US Olympic Trials last weekend, David Oliver confirmed his prominence this year, running 12.89sec in the semi-final and 12.95sec in the final, even if both times were aided by a wind above the limit for record purposes. Oliver qualified as the No 1 string for the US.

If Liu is to retain his Olympic title, he is likely to have a much sterner fight on his hands than was expected even six weeks ago. Defeat would be a disaster for him, for China and for his many admirers.

He is widely appreciated for his technical proficiency. Colin Jackson says of the man who took away his world record: "It would be different if someone like Roger Kingdom [the 1984 and 1988 Olympic champion] had broken it. He was a real bull, but was not what one would call the smoothest hurdler in the world. Liu is completely different. Hes a nice fluent, silky hurdler."

Alan Pascoe, the former British international who won both Commonwealth and European hurdles titles, says: "He is very smooth but also aggressive with his lead arm, getting him low across the hurdles. He has the build - he is 6ft 2in - and leg length to maximise the drive off the hurdles, and this helps his stride pattern. But he is also quick on the ground. Colin Jackson [who is 5ft 11in] could have been two inches taller [to help him stretch over the barriers]."

Pascoe added: "Colin was so fast on the ground - look at the way he so often used to make up distance at the finish, and he was also technically brilliant. So is this Chinese lad, but now he is under real pressure from the Cuban."

Pascoe, the chairman of Fast Track, the sports marketing agency, believes that Liu Xiang is still one of the relatively unknown names in international athletics, pointing out that although he is a hero in China, he is "relatively unknown to the man in the street in Britain".

However, this could change with another victory in Beijing, which would make him the third high hurdler, after the Americans Lee Calhoun and Roger Kingdom, to retain the Olympic title. His lack of global status is partly the result of his upbringing in China, where he has been honed discreetly in the system and has run less frequently than he might have done in Grand Prix meetings.

Born in Shanghai, the only child of a lorry driver and a pastry cook, he was brought up with the aid of an extended family, including a grandmother who used to cook him braised pork in a brown sauce.

They were reluctant to allow him to become part of the Chinese conveyor belt of sporting talent, but despite their opposition, he enrolled, aged 12, in a junior sports school and won a national age-group title in the high jump. However, it was forecast that despite his early growth spurt, he would not be tall enough to become a world-class jumper.

He was rescued by Sun Haiping, already a renowned hurdles coach, and changed events.

Although Sun described Lius technique as "terrible" in the early days, they worked together on the fluency of the movement and his suppleness so that he could skim over the barriers with little loss of momentum. He made his debut internationally at the 2000 world junior championships, where he finished fourth.

A year later, by now 18, he won the World Student Games title. His father recounts that when Liu returned home from that victory, he rushed to the hospital where his beloved grandmother was dying of cancer. "He gently propped her up, tenderly hung the gold medal round her neck, holding it so that the medal would not become too heavy for her."

The Chinese public have appreciated such stories of Lius humanity. As Feng Shuyong says: "Girls like him, old ladies like him, even men."

However, Feng recognises that Liu's victory in Athens four years ago, which put him on a lonely pedestal, has had its drawbacks, which have been exacerbated by China hosting the Games. Feng says: "He's a young man and wants to do many things, but he can't. I feel very sorry for him."

Liu himself says: "Being famous is sometimes a good thing, but sometimes not. I prefer not to be famous. My situation has changed. I have money now but I can't shop." Not even for his favourite casual clothes - "all the sports clothes I have are from sponsors" - because he gets mobbed whenever he appears in public.

Speaking of the Olympics, he says: "I will try my best, but I still have to live after this period. I think that when I retire it will be better."

First he has his date next month with his American rivals and particularly with the Cuban, Robles.

He says of the encounter in the Birds Nest stadium: "I hope it will be the second birthplace of my dreams." All China, and Liu himself, are praying that it will not be a nightmare.

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