CCTV slammed for broadcast of hurdler’s stumble

China Central Television and Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang have attracted controversy after it was learned that CCTV had prepared for Liu’s crash at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

However, experts said it is normal for broadcasters to make plans for such eventualities at important sports events, especially since Liu’s coach had announced before the race that Liu had suffered injuries.

During a seminar on Wednesday, Sha Tong, head of the CCTV anchor team for the Olympic broadcast, said that anchor Yang Jian had known about Liu’s serious injury through unofficial channels before the race, according to a report on Thursday by China Youth Daily.

To deal with possible accidents, Yang made four plans for the live broadcast, and Plan A was that Liu fell during the race, said the report.

On Aug 7, Liu tumbled onto the track of the 110m hurdles when he tried to clear the first hurdle. He sat on the track holding his right foot, then got up, hopped down the track, and kissed the final hurdle before being consoled by foreign competitors.

In the live broadcast, Yang cried while saying "Liu Xiang is a warrior".

Yang said even though he had prepared for Liu’s possible fall, he could not control his feelings when he witnessed it.

"I couldn’t accept that such an athlete who has brought us so much pride and glory in track and field events fell down," Yang said at the seminar on Wednesday. "As a result, I appeared like that."

The CCTV seminar was held to summarize the experience of the Olympic broadcast, yet the anchor’s preparation for the fall was criticized by some news media and netizens as "playing up the drama" in front of the audience.

An online survey begun on Thursday on Sina Weibo showed that more than 53 percent of netizens agreed that CCTV was fooling the audience by planned reaction.

Apart from the criticism toward CCTV, there were also many netizens who said that Liu should have told the public about his serious injuries before the race.

Liu, 29, shot to fame after winning gold at the Athens Olympics in 2004. But he injured his Achilles tendon during the Beijing Olympics in 2008 right before his heat, which forced him out.

Jiang Heping, director of CCTV sports channel, said on Wednesday that even though they had prepared for the broadcast of possible incidents, what the anchor exhibited were his true feelings.

Liu Xiaoying, a professor of media research at the Communication University of China, said it’s understandable that CCTV prepared for different possibilities in the live broadcast.

It was the public’s high expectations toward Liu that led to anger on the Internet, he said.

"In many people’s opinions, Liu Xiang was not just an athlete, but a symbol of China’s track and field capacity," he said. "It’s unfair to criticize him so fiercely after the incident."

anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn