With Each Hurdle Cleared, Pressure on Liu Increases

OSAKA, Japan, Sept. 2 -- Of all the celebrations that took place in Nagai Stadium as dozens of medals were awarded at the 11th IAAF world track and field championships last week, one stood out for its undiluted, infectious jubilation.

Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang grinned with wide, wild eyes and pointed to himself with both index fingers as he galloped, leapt and skipped around the track after winning his first world title in the 110-meter final Friday.

Liu's unexpectedly emotional display and near-perfect race execution in the face of tremendous pressure -- several dozen Chinese journalists chronicled his every move here -- suggest his journey to next year's summer Olympics in Beijing could leave worldwide audiences mesmerized and gasping for breath, while he is stretched to the limits of athletic challenge.

Forget U.S. sprinter Tyson Gay, who won his third gold medal as a member of the 4x100-meter relay team that topped Jamaica on Saturday. No world champion will encounter more hype and heavy expectations in Beijing than Liu, the lone individual-sport superstar in a country playing host to its first Olympics and which has staked its national pride on the success of the Games.

Liu, 24, likely will face similar, but more intense, challenges than Australian 400 runner Cathy Freeman did at the 2000 Sydney Games, given China's larger population, more imperious government and fewer national stars of similar stature.

"It's safe to say there has never been an athlete with such a burden of expectations upon his shoulders," USA Track and Field Chief Executive Craig Masback said. "He is pretty much the single signature athlete, and he's competing in a high-profile sport that is extraordinarily competitive and leaves so little margin for error."

Though known for his remarkable consistency, there was nothing robotic about Liu, the 2004 Olympic champion, during the 110 final or after. Liu said he was nervous at the start, which showed, perhaps, as American Terrence Trammell got out faster.

Liu, though, passed Trammell at about 50 meters, then gradually extended the lead. By the final hurdle, it was clear Liu could not be beaten. Even so, he turned his head twice to look at the rest of the field as he approached the finish to reassure himself, he said later, that he was indeed first.

"I was under a lot of pressure to win the gold medal, but I think I was able to conquer my tension and the pressure," said Liu through an interpreter. "After I jumped over that last hurdle, I couldn't bare it anymore. I unintentionally looked around to see how the others were running."

Right now, nobody is running as well as Liu, who matched the 13-year-old world record of 12.91 at the 2004 Olympics, then broke it last year when he ran 12.88 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Five-time medal winner Allen Johnson, who did not qualify for these championships because of injury, said Liu likely will be a favorite at the Olympics because of his uncommon precision.

"He doesn't make nearly as many mistakes as the rest of us do," said Johnson, here working as an athlete liaison for USA Track and Field. "In any given hurdles race, on the average we all make, say, 10 mistakes. He goes out there and makes four . . . From the ninth hurdle to the 10th hurdle, he's just faster than everyone else."

The son of a truck driver and pastry chef, Liu was placed in a sports school in Shanghai in an early age because of his height. There, he participated in the high jump until his current coach, Sun Haiping, persuaded him at 16 to try the hurdles. At 19, when Liu broke American Renaldo Nehemiah's 24-year-old junior record (13.12), his national celebrity began to take off.

Johnson recalled meeting Liu at the 2001 world championships in Edmonton. He said he wished Liu luck, agreed to pose for a photo and might have signed an autograph. Three years later during a meet on this track, Liu beat Johnson for the first time.

"I never thought he would be so good so soon," Johnson said. "In 2004, he just went to another level."

And he's taking the hurdles with him. Johnson said Liu's technical prowess has single-handedly ignited a resurgence in the sport, noting the recent increase in times under 13 seconds. In Friday's race, Liu finished in 12.95 seconds, with Trammell (12.99) and teammate David Payne (13.02) close behind.

Though Liu competes most of the summer outside of China, he still resides in China. Going home, though, isn't quite what it used to be.

Mark Wetmore, a consultant to the Chinese athletic association who represents Liu's interests in the United States, said Liu already has achieved a status that prevents him from living the normal life he craves. His world, Wetmore said, officially turned upside down after the 2004 Olympics.

Next year, of course, will be worse.

"He knows what he's in for," Wetmore said. "He's in that category, and he's been under that pressure since Athens, so he's used to it. When he's back in China, he's such a star . . . He can't go to restaurants, can't go shopping, can't do normal things anymore."