China’s stellar performance at the Olympics has surprised itself. But what the nation has anticipated for the most is 刘翔/Liu Xiang, the defending champion of men’s 110 meter hurdles. He is China’s Michael Phelps if you will. Being the country’s first man to ever win an Olympic gold. But today, his dream and that of an entire nation came to a sudden and sad ending when he withdrew from the race due to injury.
The 24-year-old has been living under unimaginable pressure, carrying the hope of 1.3 billion people. As the 90,000 spectators sigh collectively when Liu Xiang walked out of the stadium, l hope he will soon walk into a normal life. 刘翔，好样儿的！
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August 18, 2008 3:55 pm
That was very sad. I was surprised when i saw it happen because he looked so focused before hand
August 18, 2008 4:29 pm
Joanna,
The public reaction is complete shock and sadness. But also relief for Liu Xiang. In a rather sorrowful way, the incident highlighted the spirit of the game.
August 18, 2008 5:30 pm
Definitely disappointing, but this is part of what makes sports so compelling. “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. The human drama of athletic competition…”
August 18, 2008 5:42 pm
Heartbreaking indeed.
I really wonder what the story behind it all is, though. He must have known that he wasn’t in competition shape this morning. I’ve read reports that he was grimacing warming up… I wonder if he just didn’t want to let people down, so he tried to run even though he knew he couldn’t.
August 19, 2008 3:13 pm
Liu Xiang came out with a public apology yesterday. Why? He doesn’t owe us anything. He’s brought us joy, pride and dream. I like a blog post by the famed screaming ex-CCTV commentator 黄健翔/Huang jianxiang, who wittily said we’ve turned Olympic 精神/jing shen/spirit into Olympic 神经/shen jing/pathological obsession.
August 19, 2008 3:34 pm
i hope going forward the chinese basketball authorities will cut yao ming some slack as well. yao ming needs to rest his body during the nba off-season. he has been injured too many times. i think yao ming has brought pride to china too. he’s a terrific ambassador for china in the u.s.