Liu Xiang

Liu Xiang: a star of Asia. Number one – and who is going to argue?He came, he saw, he conquered. Liu Xiang arrived at Doha 2006 as one of the greatest athletes in the world and as China’s most celebrated sportsperson. The 110m hurdler departed with his reputation not only intact, but enhanced.

Four years earlier, he was a relatively unknown 19 year-old as he won gold at Busan 2002. Since then, he added Olympic gold and World Indoor gold to his ever-increasing collection of titles and when he smashed the 110m hurdles world record with a scorching run of 12.88 seconds in Lausanne, Switzerland in July, hype reached fever pitch.

Here was a special competitor indeed and one whom the whole of Asia expected to not only win gold, but win it in style too. No pressure then. But Liu did not get where he is today without being able to perform under pressure. Indeed, such is his ability to perform under pressure that the greater danger was that Liu might become too complacent and too relaxed.

It was a danger that his coach Sun Haiping was well aware of, and just a few weeks before the start of the 15th Asian Games, he said: “It’s the end of the season but we still have to work hard. If I have to, I will make Liu train until his head spins.”

Clearly it worked. Liu arrived in Qatar focused and in fine shape with his stated intention to win gold and break his own Asian Games record of 13.27 seconds.

On Tuesday 12 December, the final night of track and field action at Khalifa Stadium, Liu was the headline act and he didn’t disappoint. Despite a sluggish start in the men’s 110m hurdles final, he stormed through the field with breathtaking speed to win gold in 13.15, a new Asian Games record. Mission accomplished.

He even dragged compatriot Shi Dongpeng through to a new personal best of 13.28 for silver. Bronze went to Masato Naoto of Japan in 13.60. But the night was all about Liu, gold medallist again, and there is little reason to think he won’t win again when his home country hosts the 2010 Games in Guangzhou.

Liu specialises in collecting precious metal. Straight after his win he said: “I want to do some shopping. I heard that watches in Doha are very cheap. I want to buy some for my family.” No doubt they were gold too.

Liu Xiang

Copyright © 2005 DohaQatar.info