BEIJING // The packed crowd at the Bird's Nest will again lament the absence of China's greatest athlete today. Six medal events are scheduled in the athletics competition, including what should have been the long-awaited showdown between the Cuban world record-holder Dayron Robles and Chinese hero Liu Xiang in the 110 metres hurdles.
But Xiang withdrew from his heat on Monday, leaving Robles as the clear favourite. Liu, who won gold at the 2004 Athens Games for his country's first gold in track and field and had been the world record holder until Robles topped him in June, had been billed as the face of the Olympics in the most populous country in the world. But his bothersome right hamstring and a sore tendon in his right foot made him pull out of his heat before even clearing the first obstacle.
Liu took off out of the blocks, but when a second gun sounded for a false start, Liu walked off the track and back to the locker room. The other finals are in the women's 20 kilometre walk, 200m and javelin, and the men's 400m and triple jump. Allyson Felix, who failed to make the United States team in the 100 metres, will be trying to keep the Jamaicans from sweeping the two sprints. Her main competition in the women's 200m will come from Veronica Campbell-Brown and Kerron Stewart.
In the men's 400 metres, the defending champion Jeremy Wariner is the one to beat. He will be looking to break his manager Michael Johnson's 1999 world record of 43.18 secs. His teammate LaShawn Merritt will be hoping to add another upset to his win at the US trials. "He's ready. I'm ready, time to go," he said. "We're here. It's the Olympic Games. It's time for a showdown - a throwdown." Besides the six on the track, 17 other gold medals will be awarded, including cycling, swimming, beach volleyball, sailing, wrestling, water polo, diving, modern pentathlon, taekwondo, softball equestrian and football.
Three teams of American women have a chance to pick up gold today - the top-ranked women's water polo team, the undefeated softball team and the football team. The softball team is undefeated through eight games and will play for its fourth straight gold medal in what could be the sport's last Olympic hurrah. Baseball and softball will be dropped from the 2012 London Games, though both are still hopeful of reinstatement for future Games.
In beach volleyball, the defending champions Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor of the United States take on the top-seeded Chinese team of Tian Jia and Wang Jie. * Reuters
