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He became more than the Olympic 110-meter hurdles champion; he instantly was transformed into a megastar in China, on par with his Shanghai buddy, NBA star Yao Ming. In the intervening time he has become a ubiquitous pitchman in his home country and the face of the 2008 Games.
Liu may have more pressure than any athlete in Beijing. He’s China’s best hope for gold in track and field, but he’s also a symbol of hope that China can compete with the best of the West in sports beyond the country’s magnificent seven — table tennis, diving, gymnastics, badminton, judo, shooting and weightlifting.
“Liu is our honor,” Chinese sports official Gu Yaoming says.
Just to add to the difficulty, he hasn’t raced since May because of an injury to the hamstring muscle in his right, trail leg.
“I wouldn’t want to be in his position,” says David Oliver, the U.S. Olympic trials champ in the 110 hurdles.
“I hope he’s happy,” says Cathy Freeman, who won the gold medal in the 400 meters in her native Australia at the 2000 Sydney Games.
Not everyone feels such sympathy.
“He’s got his gold medal,” says Terrence Trammell of the USA, a two-time silver medalist in the event and one of Liu’s top competitors in Beijing.maple story mesos
If anyone can empathize with Liu’s plight, it’s Freeman, Australia’s biggest hope for a track gold eight years ago.
“When I consider the pressure, expectations and the attention that surrounded me at the time, I honestly feel quite unwell,” she wrote on her website (www.catherinefreemanfoundation.com). “I’m so glad I didn’t realise the intense public and media interest surrounding me back then, as I fear I may have buckled under the massive weight if I had been aware.”age of conan gold
Freeman carried the hopes of 20 million countrymen; Liu has 1.3 billion counting on him.
“They all expect him to get a gold medal. That’s huge pressure on him,” Chinese national team coach Feng Shuyong told The Associated Press in May during Liu’s visit to New York.
Keeping Liu shielded
Chinese authorities have done their best to shield Liu, a multimillionaire who splits time between college dorm-like accommodations at training centers in Beijing and Shanghai. He didn’t attend the opening ceremonies and isn’t expected into the athletes’ village until just before his event. The heats begin Monday; the final is Thursday.
“Liu has had intensive training these days to compensate for what he lost due to the shortage of competitions before the Olympics,” said his coach, Sun Haiping, in a post on wow gold the Chinese track and field federation website. “His injuries have been cured and no longer affect his normal training.”
When sound, the 6-2, 170-pounder is formidable. His 12.91 in Athens was a world record, and he lowered it to 12.88 in 2006. He’s tough in big meets, second at the ‘05 worlds and the winner in ‘07.
“I don’t know what makes me so fast and successful,” Liu says. “I know when I see a hurdle in front of me, I just attack it.”silkroad gold
His start is unremarkable, but he’s considered the best finisher and possibly the best technician in the event. “He’s run down people running 12.95,” Oliver says. “The races he loses, he always hits that last hurdle. When he clears it, it’s over.”
Tough competition
Liu was replaced as world recordholder this year by Dayron Robles of Cuba, who ran 12.87 in June and since has run 12.88 and 12.91.
“I always said he was the best 110 hurdler in the world ever since I saw him first run in 2006,” says Oliver, who beat Robles, 21, before the world record. “He’s got the size (6-3½), seven steps to the first hurdle, then his lead leg is superfast and active. He keeps his trail leg tight.”
Robles, Oliver and Trammell add to the challenges facing Liu.
“The only competitor in my mind is myself,” Liu said in May in New York, where he withdrew from the Reebok Grand Prix because of the hamstring problem.
Asked if he consulted a sports psychologist, he replied: “I feel like I’m learning from everyday life. I feel like I’m my best therapist.”
That’s what Freeman was. Maybe Liu is following her example of forming her own cocoon that shielded her from the pressure. “I was so happy running,” she said by phone from Sydney. “I dreamt of a gold medal. It was an immeasurable love that I had for what I did and for who I am. That was the only thing that mattered.”
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