Liu Xiang, China's trump card, will show again he is unrivalled at the 4th East Asian Games in Macao
By Yan Ming (Shanghai Express)
Updated: 2005-10-19 10:35

He is the hero of the nation. And he is coming to Macao.

Liu Xiang's victory in Athens ended the history of no track and field gold medal ever won by a Chinese man in summer Olympics since China returned to the largest sports meet in 1984.

Though ranked No 1 in the world only briefly, he has triumphed several times on the International Association of Athletics Federation Grand Prix circuit in the past year, and is tipped to successfully defend his Olympic title in Beijing come 2008.

For Liu, the Olympic gold medallist in the men's 110 metre-hurdles, he has only one big event to go for this year - the 4th East Asian Games to be held in Macao.

It would be a piece of cake for China's trump card in athletics.

"The standard at the East Asian Games will be a lot lower than some of the competitions I have competed in this year. I feel confident that I will win the gold medal in Macao,'' Liu, who recently won his race at the inaugural Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, was quoted by CNN as saying.

Liu has had another bumper year on the athletics track. Last month, he beat his American rival, Allen Johnson, to win a nail-biting affair at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, which was held in his home town.

Liu clocked 13.05 seconds for his season's best time, although he said he wouldn't have to clock anything close to that time to win in Macao.

"I think 13.20 seconds will be good enough to win in Macao. I don't really have any great rivals in Asia. My toughest competitor will probably be my teammate, Shi Dongpeng, who finished third in Shanghai," he said.

The only child of a worker's family in Shanghai, Liu is, according to his trainer Sun Haiping, born to be a hurdler, not just because of his almost-ideal physical build but also of the ability to remain calm and focused under pressure, optimistic and confident without being complacent.

A restless natural competitor since early childhood, he began systematic training in high jump in his fourth year in primary school and became a national champion of his age group at 15, years after his coach determined he would not be tall enough to be a world-class high jumper and told him to give up.

Then he caught the attention of Sun Haiping, one of the best hurdler trainers in the country. And the rest, as people would aptly say, is history.