Hurdler Liu Xiang leaves Olympics with leg injury

HOWARD FENDRICH
The Associated Press

BEIJING - Liu Xiang and the entire nation of China looked forward to this moment for years: The defending Olympic champion lining up to run the 110-meter hurdles at the Beijing Games. He didn't even get to race. Grimacing and rubbing his troublesome right hamstring before getting into his crouch, Liu pulled up lame just steps into the first round of qualifying Monday, leaving the Summer Games' host country without one of its biggest stars , and far and away its biggest star in track and field.

He limped out of the block at the starting gun, took a few awkward steps, then stopped and limped again when the second gun sounded to signal a false start. No one is disqualified by an initial false start, yet Liu tore the pieces of paper with his number off each leg and immediately headed for a tunnel, stepping gingerly all the way with what the coach of China's track team said was a right foot injury.

"He couldn't imagine the pain he was suffering," coach Feng Shuyong said at a news conference Liu didn't attend. "Let me repeat: Liu Xiang will not withdraw unless the pain is unbearable."
While the other entrants in his heat prepared for the restart, Liu took a slow, painful walk along a concrete path leading away from the rust-colored track where he was supposed to thrill a nation of 1.3 billion people.

Instead, he sat against a wall alone, that smiling face that adorns so many advertising billboards now sullen. At that moment, some members of the Chinese media watching the scene unfold on a TV under the stands began to cry while thousands of his disappointed countrymen were heading for the exits.

"I feel very sad for Liu Xiang," said 67-year-old retiree Liu Guixiang. "After Liu Xiang's injury, I won't bother coming back to the Bird's Nest for more."

Had this been any other competition, in any other setting, it seems safe to say Liu wouldn't even have shown up at the stadium himself on this day.

"When you see the crowd, you realize why he had to come out," said Britain's Allan Scott, who was surprised when he glanced across the lanes and didn't see Liu ahead of him in the final heat.
Liu's personal coach, Sun Haiping, said Liu was bothered by a right foot injury that has lingered for six or seven years , and that the pain intensified Saturday. Sun's shoulders shook and he wiped away tears as he spoke about Liu's withdrawal.

Feng said the injury is where the Achilles tendon attaches to Liu's right foot, "his takeoff foot, so there is a lot of stress on that area."

There were signs of trouble as soon as Liu made his first appearance on the Bird's Nest's big video screens. Once on the track, he stopped after clearing two hurdles during the warmup period, then crouched down and favored his right leg as he walked back to the starting area.
He peeled off his red shirt when others were lining up behind the blocks and seemed to wait forever before pulling a new jersey over his head.

"In watching warmups, we could see he wasn't quite as strong as you expect him to be," said former world record-holder Colin Jackson. "But we didn't know it was as bad as it turned out to be."

Liu's hamstring problem forced him to pull out of a meet in New York on May 31 , the same night Usain Bolt first broke the world record in the 100 meters.

A week later, Liu lined up for the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore., but was disqualified for a false start. He hasn't raced since and only rarely has made public appearances, training in seclusion.

The 25-year-old hurdler is as much a celebrity here as Houston Rockets center Yao Ming. At the Athens Games four years ago, Liu became as the first Chinese man to win an Olympic track and field gold medal. A Chinese insurance company volunteered more than $10 million of coverage for his legs. His image appears everywhere in his hometown of Shanghai, and he has sponsorship deals with Visa and Coca-Cola, among others.

"I think the Chinese people will understand the situation," Feng said of Liu's withdrawal, "and will encourage him to come back to the track."

Thursday night's 110-meter hurdles final was expected to be one of the highlights of these Olympics: China's Liu vs. Cuba's Dayron Robles, the man who broke Liu's world record in June , with 91,000 fans crowding into the Bird's Nest to cheer on their man.

"I think they will be disappointed," said Wang Wei, executive vice president of the games' organizing committee. "But they will understand. When somebody has an accident, you can't help it."

Now Robles, who won his heat but at 13.39 seconds was well off his world record time of 12.87, becomes the clear favorite.

Yet another of the top contenders departed Monday when two-time Olympic silver medalist Terrence Trammell of the United States grabbed the second hurdle and limped off the track with an injured left leg.

The exits of Liu and Trammell leave David Oliver, thought to be running as consistently as any of the U.S. hurdlers of late, as a serious medal candidate. His personal best of 12.95 seconds is only 0.08 second off Robles' world record.

Asked before Liu lined up for his heat whether he knew that his Chinese rival appeared to be hurting badly, Robles said he didn't care.

"I'm going to do what Usain Bolt did," the Cuban said when asked about breaking his hurdles world record. "The track is perfect. Anything is possible in the final."

he should have some kind of idea how much people actually paid to watch him man.
it's really like what amanda has said.

from melissa's blog. shall vent my anger. hmph.

I talk a lot when I get really nervous. ahh bad habit.
I am extremely ticklish. NEVER POKE ME.
I'm afraid of the dark. oops(:
I can't sleep in a room if the door is open.
I can't sleep in a room if the door is closed.
I am homosexual. -.-
I believe in true love. NARCISSISM
I've ran away from home. oh how i wish i can
I listen to political music.
I collect comic books.
I shut others out when I'm sad.
I've stayed up all night. oh what nonsense. health.
I open up to others easily.
I am keeping a secret from the world. you will know when i grow up!
I watch the news. duh?
I like Disney movies. YES OMG YES YES YES YES YES YES. sheesh. that was embarrassing.
I am a sucker for green eyes.
I am a sucker for brown eyes.
I am a sucker for blue eyes.
Just eyes in general.
I don't kill bugs. don't dare to! except ants. with other inanimate objects
I have "x"s in my screen name.
I've slipped and fell in public. HAH.many times when i was young.
I've slipped out a "lol" in a real conversation.
I love spam.
I bake well. I microwave well.
I have worn pajamas to class. Eww.
I want a better job.
Talked on a phone for 6+ hours.
I love Dr. Phil.
I like multiple people.
I am guilty of tYpInG lIkE tHiS. wHy IS iT wOrTh bEiNg gUiLtY?
I am self conscious.
I love to laugh.
I have tried alcohol.
I drink alcohol on a regular basis.
I have tried a cigarette.
I have smoked a pack in one day.
I loved lord of the flies. YEA IT'S SO NICE AND DEPRESSING.
I have cough drops when I'm not sick.
I can't swallow pills.
I have a lot of scars.
I can't sleep if there is a spider in the room. oops. hee.
I like chocolate. BUT i'm on a diet(:
I bite my nails.
I am not comfortable with being me.
I play computer games when I'm bored.
Gotten lost in the city. i have a greattt senseeee of directionnnn.
Thought of suicide before. never dared to though. why waste my precious life? it's not often you get a genius you know(:
Seen a shooting star.
Gone out in public in my pajamas.
Hugged a stranger.
Been in a fist fight.
Laughed and had some type of beverage come out of my nose. very uncomfortable okay.
Pushed all the buttons on an elevator. AND UNPUSHED THEM. the beauty of te escalator at my house.
Made out in an elevator.
Kicked a guy where it hurts on purpose. I'm not a perv.
Been bungee jumping.
Gotten stitches.
Drank a whole gallon of milk in one hour.
Bitten someone.
Been to Niagara Falls.
Gotten the chicken pox.
Been in a car crash.
Been to Germany. OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG. deutschlandddddddd!!!!!!!!!!
Ridden in a taxi. deprived but not that deprived lah hor.
Shoplifted.
Been fired.
Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back.
Stole something from your job.
Gone on a blind date.
Had a crush on a teacher/coach. appeals to jiahui!!
Celebrated Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
Slept with a co-worker, and/or employee.
Been married.
Gotten divorced.
Saw someone/something dying.
Have a list of people you want to kill.
Ridden in a car over 400 miles in one day. and almost puked over the seat.
Seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Thrown up in a bar.
Eaten sushi.
Cried in public. nah not a CRYBABY.
Walked purposely into traffic with your eyes closed.
Liked someone even though you knew you shouldn't have.
Thought of someone a lot lately. who? me?
Hate the world.
Liked someone even if they have a boyfriend/girlfriend.

what the hell. whatever i choose for mysubject combi is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS. why force me to learn something i don't like? and why argue with me when the freaking ignorant you don't even KNOW anything? forget it, not wasting my brain juices on you pigs. not worth it.
now GET LOST.

HAHAHA MELISSA'S DADDY IS SOO FUNNY.
and very very nice(: today when unclee gave me a lift i said " hello uncle!" and then "hello priscilla!" and then he started laughing and laughing and laughing. ok i don't see what's so funny about it but still, it was adorablee. it is preeety obvious where melissa got her jeans from.

there'll be a new lit teacher tmr. i don't wantttt!! i want ms ang): she's so cute. "you know the left side of the page with all the explanations and all that crap." and the other time when the com died on her: "oh shit i can't do anything! shit! shit! this is the most kanasai thing in my life!"
HAH.
and for the finale.
ms ang: -starts reading powerpoint aloud-
the class: what-the-heck-is-going-on look
ms ang: stops and looks at the screen, "oh my goodness! didn't yall find it weird that i was talking to the computer! oh my gosh that was soo embarrassing! ahh!"

MS ANG DON'T GOOOO.

and pe was khgashefcgajkhegfcasefc. the diaper thingum that you wear for rock climbing presses on to your crotch like shitt. haha poor melissa i was too heavy for her(:

YAYYEE MY BACKBONE'S STRAIGHT!! okay yea whatever i know i haven't been updating for like, really long so HELLO PEOPLE! in the library now studying with jiahui. went to sentosa on sunday and it was super fun!! images of singapore and songs of the sea were terri-FIC. underwater world was not bad too, i love jellyfishes and dolphins!
yadda yadda i shall stop waffling.
I CAN'T WAIT FOR SATRDAY.

I.AM.OVERJOYED.


auspicious,blissful,blithe,buoyant,carefree,cheerful,content,delighted,ecstatic,elated,
euphoric,exuberant,exultant,felicitous,fitting,GAY,glad,gratified,gratifying,halcyon,joyous,
jubilant,light-hearted,merry,mirthful,pleased,prosperous,providential,radiant,rapturous, ravishing,satisfied,SUNNY

HAHA BELIEVE IT OR NOT I GOT TO PLAY TENNIS IN THE END!

the courts were supposed to be booked from 7-8 but no one was there. guess it was cos of the rain and the ground was just a teensy bit wet.

and i'm no longer a wimp at tennis(: second time playing today and i think i'm getting the hang of it.



these two act really well! oh dear can't believe i'm addicted to a korean show. blame my mum.
plomp.

OMGG the bishan gay gave 50 bucks to a RI guy just for talking to him!! heyy that's unfair. how come we never get to have an orchard lesbian or something. hmph.
oh and guess what. i booked the tennis court from 5-6 and it just so happened to start raining at 5 and end exactly at 6.
what luck.
urghh I NEED EXERCISE.
boom cha cha.

all hail the mighty yujia!
okay whatever i'm feeling random.
i have tll later and if it's gonna be that michelle ho teacher again i'll just BANG my head against the wall.
and everyone suddenly seems to have family dinner, outing and all that tuition and stuff to attend to on 2 august.
wth.
shalalalala.

life is so unfair.









i don't get it. i get so worked up and furious and everything whenever i come across those things. i don't know that feeling. but something tells me that it's just, you know, jealousy.