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Liu Xiang set to cross the hurdle again

(China Daily/Agencies)
Updated: 2009-09-19 09:44

China's hurdler Liu Xiang looks up during a news conference at Shanghai Stadium September 18, 2009. Liu will return to competition for the first time since hobbling out of the Beijing Olympics at next weekend's Shanghai Golden Grand Prix.[Agencies]

SHANGHAI: He is back. The giant poster at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport declares that. And he is determined to bury the painful memories of the Beijing Olympic Games.

Liu Xiang will hit the tracks on Sunday at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, whose other star attractions include pole vault queen Yelena Isinbayeva and sprinters Tyson Gay of the US and Asafa Powell of Jamaica.

Liu reduced the nation to tears when he limped off the Bird's Nest track at last year's Olympics. Such is Liu's magnetism in China that spectators began leaving the National Stadium in droves even before he had walked off, aided, out of view.

Now, after undergoing a 13-month treatment for his torn Achilles tendon, the former Olympic and world champion hurdler hopes to bring spectators back to the stadium. And Shanghai, his hometown, seems to be the perfect setting for that.

China's hurdler Liu Xiang attends a news conference at Shanghai Stadium September 18, 2009.[Agencies]

His fans, such as Ge Yijia, agree. "Without Liu, I don't think I'd pay any attention to the event. Now, I want to cheer him at the stadium," Ge said on Friday.

The 26-year-old hurdler's fans had been waiting for his comeback, but his decision to run on Sunday still came as a surprise, a pleasant one though.

"I was at the Bird's Nest when Liu withdrew from the Beijing Games I felt like being cheated at the time and swore never to watch him running again. But when I heard he would compete in the city I still came to buy tickets," said Liang Kai, queuing up outside the Shanghai Stadium.

But the competition organizers have repeatedly denied that Liu's comeback was planned in Shanghai to bring back the crowds.

A member of the organizing committee in charge of tickets, however, conceded that sales picked up immediately after Liu announced his comeback. "Of course (Liu's participation makes a big difference) Liu is such a big star," Jos Hermens, director of the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, told China Daily.

"In every country, the situation will be the same Isinbayeva at a meet in Moscow will make a big difference (but) people have to realize that if you like sport, they should not (be attracted) just by Isinbayeva or Liu or (Usain) Bolt."

Despite the hype, Liu maintained a low profile at the pre-event press conference on Friday. Perhaps Isinbayeva's presence on the rostrum had something to do with it, though almost 90 percent of the questions were directed at the hurdler.

"I'm in good shape but I can't predict how fast I'll run," Liu said. "I haven't competed for a long time and I just want to get the feel of a competition again. I haven't thought too much about the result. I will just try to do my best."

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