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Hurdler's Olympic Injury Breaks China's Heart
Liu Xiang, widely touted in China as headed for gold, winced before dropping out of the competition because of a problem with his Achilles tendon.
(By Jonathan Newton -- The Washington Post)
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Xi's official telegraph to China's General Administration of Sport conveyed his sympathy and "warm courage" to Liu and his tearful coach and expressed hope that Liu would rest easily. "When he recovers," Xi added, "he should continue to train hard, strengthen his fighting spirit and gain bigger honors for the motherland."
Liu had suffered a hamstring injury in May that forced him to pull out of a race in New York. But no one realized he had such a serious injury to the Achilles tendon, sports commentator Li said in a telephone interview. Many Chinese, rather than feeling sympathetic toward Liu, felt cheated by him.
"It is very difficult for Chinese people to change their ideas about sports or to become more rational in a short time," Li said.
Many fans were upset that Liu's injury had not been made public earlier. Others virtually cast him off, noting that China already has more gold medals than any other nation at the Games.
"To be frank, we don't need a gold medal from you," said one critic from the southern city of Guangzhou, addressing Liu online at http:/
Outside the Bird's Nest, people were shocked and disappointed but more sympathetic than those online. "I totally understand his injury," said He Chunxian, 32, a sports teacher. "What he achieved would have been almost unimaginable when I was training for track and field. If I were Liu, I'd rather give away millions to not compete in this game. I cannot imagine the pressure."
Li Bo, 50, a retired factory worker from Heilongjiang province, said Liu had become "a symbol of power, a symbol of 'Go, China!' "
"After he dropped out," Li said, "I almost lost my strength to continue watching the game."
China has a history of heaping expectations on athletes, in a country where sports are highly politicized and glory is collective rather than individual. Twenty years ago, the public abandoned gymnast Li Ning, who won gold in Los Angeles in 1984 but did not win a medal in Seoul in 1988. Now a billionaire sportswear entrepreneur, Li Ning was chosen to light the Olympic cauldron in this month's Opening Ceremonies.
One online user at Tianya, China's largest bulletin-board service, wrote that only weak nations pressure their athletes. "Liu Xiang pulling out is the beginning of China's maturity," the user wrote. "If people are naive enough to hope one person can support the dignity of the whole nation, then China is hopeless."
Researchers Liu Liu and Zhang Jie contributed to this report.
