China's fallen hero apologises to nation

Reuters

FALLEN STAR: Chinese athletics star Liu Xiang said the pain in his leg was intolerable before his heat of the 110m hurdles and has apologised for letting his country down.

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A sombre Liu Xiang has apologised to his adoring public for his shock withdrawal from the 110m hurdles as one of his biggest sponsors confronted the national disappointment with China's Olympic poster boy with full-page advertisements in Beijing and Shanghai.

Nike took out the entire back page of several Beijing newspapers with a portrait of a sombre Liu Xiang and the lines "Love Competition, Love risking your pride .... Love sport even when it breaks your heart.'' In Liu Xiang's home town of Shanghai, the Nike advertisement ran on the Oriental Morning Post's front page under a headline "One day and ten years of a hero" pointing to an inside story of how Monday's tragedy happened and a retrospective of Liu's career.

The supportive tone of virtually all media was guaranteed after Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, the man expected to replace President Hu Jintao and who has political responsibility for the Olympics, telegraphed a message of sympathy for China's most famous track star. "We hope that after he recovers, he will continue to train hard and struggle harder for the national glory."

In his first appearance since the shock withdrawal, Liu apologised on the national broadcaster CCTV's Olympic channel. "I feel greatly sorry. There are so many people who worry about me, take care of me, care about me, and support me. Honestly, (I) could do nothing,'' the normally smiling 25 year old star said Monday night.

Liu confirmed that in recent training he had broken the 13second mark but Monday morning he could barely jog. "I don't know why this happened, and this is not what I wanted to see. Really, it (the pain) was intolerable. If I withstood it, (the pain) my hamstring ... really would not have been able to cope no matter how much I wanted it to.''

Liu, 25, vowed to make a comeback, but without specifically mentioning the 2012 London Olympics. "I have to be optimistic, not blaming anyone, keeping up my spirit. I will never easily give up, this is my character. I will make them see.'' Liu Xiang also said indicated he would show up at the 110m hurdle final on Thursday to cheer for his teammate Shi Dongpeng who he expects to make the final.

Earlier, his weeping coach Sun Haiping, who has trained Liu Xiang for the past 12 years, said Liu would miss this year's European season to recuperate. Liu's previous school coach, Gu Baogang, blamed government officials for putting too much pressure on his protege saying his injuries were caused by the intensive training.

On Baidu, one of China's biggest online portals, a poll of 465, 162 people found that almost a quarter understood Liu Xiang's decision to quit, another 13.5 per cent said they would keep supporting him and more than 20 per cent wished him a speedy recovery. Just over 4 per cent said they did not understand his withdrawal, 14 per cent were disappointed and another fifth said they no longer liked him. Only 2.2 per cent were undecided.

In another survey on sina.com, more than 120,000 people said they "understood" Liu's choice but more described his exit as "shocking and unbelievable."

The financial impact of Liu's loss is yet to be calculated. Forbes China's Rich List has him as the country's second richest athlete, earning 160million yuan (NZ$32.9m) last year. Because Liu is still part of the national sports system, a large part of his earnings is shared with the Athletic's association, his coach and other government bodies, unlike China's top earning basketball star Yao Ming who plays for the NBA and earned 380 million yuan in 2007.

Tickets for the 110m final on Thursday had been trading for up to for up to 5000 yuan - face value 400-800yuan - but scalpers were halving prices or more yesterday.

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