China's Hope for Gold in Asiad men's Running Events Lies on Liu Xiang

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, September 13, 2002

China's Hope for Gold in Asiad men's Running Events Lies on Liu Xiang

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Liu Xiang, a 110m hurdles talent,has become the most and maybe the only hopeful man for China to clinch a gold medal in the men's running events in the upcoming Busan Asian Games, to be held from September 29 to October 14.

Liu, who set the new national and Asian record of 13.12 secondsat the Grand Prix of International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) in Lausanne, Switzerland, on July 2, 2002, will not face anystrong opponents in Busan, Liu's coach Sun Haiping told Xinhua here on Thursday.

"The world record of the event is 12.91 seconds made by BritishColin Jackson in Stuttgart, Germany, on August 2, 1993. And not a single athlete in the world has clocked less than 13 seconds in recent years." Sun said.

Liu, whose given name means "flying" in Chinese, also collectedthe gold in 13.56 second at the 14th Asian Athletic Championships in Sri Lanka in August, 2002, finished the first in 13.76 seconds at the Chinese national athletic championships in June, 2002, and took the title in 13.36 seconds at the ninth Chinese national games in November, 2001.

Having been a high jumper when he started practicing track and field, Liu, only 19, shifted to the 110m hurdles event four years ago and surged to the elite group in two years.

"Liu is not tall enough to be a good high jumper. But he has marvellous sense of speed and pace." Sun said. Liu's best result for 100m is 10.4 seconds and that for 200m is about 21 seconds.

"He is always mentally well prepared for big competitions," Sunsaid, adding,"The more intense the game is, the better performancehe will make."

Liu has taken part in 15 high-level competitions this year, which definitely help him accumulate experiences.

"So far, no one in Asia is able to beat Liu. Before the Busan Asiad, Liu's target is to grab a medal for China in next week's Athletics World Cup in Madrid, Spain." Sun said.

Liu is ambitious to break the jinx that not a single Chinese man has enter the top eight of the 110m hurdles at Olympics, Sun added.

As to the Busan Asiad, Sun said that Liu's only rival is himself. And the most possible accident might occur around the first hurdle which is about 13 meters away from the starting line.

As for other men's running events at the Busan Asiad, Sun expected that Japanese runners will take the lion's share of gold medals as Chinese runners are less competitive.

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