BEIJING // The wave of euphoria that has swept across China during their triumphant hosting of the Olympics turned into floods of tears yesterday as their main hope for gold in the Bird's Nest athletics stadium failed to start in his opening heat.
Liu Xiang has been a national hero since he raced to glory in the 110 metres hurdles at the Athens Games four years ago and he stands on a par with his country's other sporting icon Yao Ming, who at 2m 29cm (7ft 6in) is the tallest player and a crowd favourite in the American National Basketball Association. Liu, who in 2004 became China's first ever male gold medallist in track and field, was a huge attraction here and millions of his compatriots had been eagerly awaiting his potential showdown with the Cuban world record holder Dayron Robbles tomorrow night.
Tickets to watch that final were changing hands at US$5,000 (Dh18,300) but those who have paid that king's ransom to sit among a capacity 91,000 crowd are now devastated following the injury-enforced withdrawal of their pin-up boy. Lui, 25, had been struggling with a damaged hamstring and an Achilles tendon problem since roaring back to top form to break the world record in Lausanne two years ago and rumours began to circulate about 30 minutes before yesterday's first round heats that he would not be fit enough to compete.
When he kicked out angrily at a padded wall on his way into the stadium, those rumours intensified and the fears of a nation were soon confirmed. After going on to his blocks and being thwarted by a false start, Liu did not return to his starting position and instead walked disconsolately from the arena to the dismay of those watching, many of whom followed him through the exit door. The shock withdrawal made hardened security officers cry along with media personnel supposedly immune to such occurrences.
Liu's coach Sun Haiping could hardly speak through his tears as he announced the athlete's departure and when news reached Liu's fan base estimated to be 1.3 billion the sobbing reached saturation point. Since Athens, Liu, whose legs are insured for about US$13million, has become one of the most recognisable figures in his homeland and was one of the faces of these Games - with posters of him on almost every street corner.
"Since winning in Athens four years ago, Liu Xiang's main goal was to achieve gold in Beijing," said Feng Shouyong, head of the Chinese team. This outcome was not perfect for all of us and especially Liu Xiang. He has been under great pressure and expectations from all of us." Feng insisted that Liu would not have withdrawn unless the pain was unbearable. "You couldn't imagine the pain he was suffering," he added.
The former US Olympic hurdler Tracy Mattes suggested Liu may have known that he could not rise to the occasion, with an expecting host nation wanting him to put the seal on their likely accomplishment of topping the Games' gold medal table. "Liu was under an absolutely tremendous amount of pressure coming into these Games after Athens," she said. "Hurdling is such a technical event that you know when you're in the right shape or not and he must have known that he was not in the same condition as he was in Athens four years ago.
"It must have been a huge mental burden for him. Right now he must be feeling very bad for himself and also feeling that he has let 1.3 billion people down." The first reaction from Chinese spectators in the Bird's Nest stadium was one of anger at Liu's withdrawal, according to one Chinese woman called Celia, who posted what she saw on her Twitter page on the internet. "I was very near Liu when he entered the Bird's Nest." she wrote.
"The entire sea of people began shouting his welcome. "When he left people quickly changed from amazement to anger. Before the event was even finished, many people left. This country really cannot stand to lose, it's terrible." The outstanding Cuban Robbles now seems certain to claim the gold in what has degenerated badly from one of the most exciting events on the athletics programme after another of his main rivals, the American Terrence Trammell, also withdrew through injury.
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