By JAY GREENBERG
May 29, 2008
If it is any consolation to Liu Xiang, the 1.3 billion people who'll be riding on his back over every hurdle in Beijing include few Yao Mings.
The People's Daily, the Communist Party newspaper, has suggested "congenital shortcomings and genetic differences had prevented Chinese persons from beating black and white athletes."
Feng Shuyong, coach of the Chinese Olympic track and field team, has said he "cannot easily find youngsters with the right body shape, yet if I go to Europe or America they are everywhere."
Only Isiah Thomas has ever operated with more excuses than did Liu before becoming the first Chinese man to win an Olympic gold medal in track and field. And with the defense of the 110-meter hurdle championship he won in Athens occurring in August in his own country, his will be another race on behalf of his entire race, a potential knee-buckler if ever there was one.
"I don't see the Olympic race as defending my championship," Liu said yesterday. "I'm just there to enjoy the race and do my best.
"I see myself as an average person. I have to do that, be calm, to deal with the pressure. I don't see myself as a superstar."
If only they saw it that way in Shanghai and Beijing. There, the 24-year-old lives as a virtual prisoner in training centers, not just because authoritarian regimes like to keep important persons as virtual prisoners in training centers. Out on the crowded streets Liu apparently is bigger than Yao and Mao combined.
"He has to stay around the dormitory, and if he needs to even get a haircut we have to send someone with him," said Feng.
"I think after the Olympic Games we will try to change this, tell him that he will have to learn to face the situations. Wherever he goes, people are asking for autographs and photos. Things like that sometimes make him not so happy."
While promoting Saturday's Reebok Grand Prix at Randall's Island yesterday on the 86th Floor Observatory of the Empire State Building, Liu resisted any urge to hurdle over the iron railing.
"A lot of people think he must have a lot of pressure that he should get the gold in Beijing," said Feng. "But he doesn't think too much about this and just focuses on himself.
"I am emphasizing that myself. The only competitor he has is himself. If he can run a 12.90 [seconds] or under, there is the big possibility to get gold."
In 2006, Liu lowered the world record he tied in Athens (12.91) to 12.88. Others times have been rising, while Liu continues to triumph over his shortcomings.
"We all see his legs are not very long," said Feng. "His speed is not so good compared with some other hurdlers, but his technique is one of the best. By the fifth hurdle it seems like he is increasing his speed but he actually is maintaining. Most hurdlers slow down after half the race."
All that cheering he'll hear in Beijing might help. Perhaps so will feeling like 1.3 billion people are chasing him. What will help the most, probably, is Liu being too good to lose regardless.
"I don't know what makes me so fast and successful," he said. "I just know when I see a hurdle in front of me, I tackle it."
