Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Liu Xiang Deserves Understanding for His Decision at the Olympics

To those of you who haven’t been living here for the past couple of years, it’s hard to describe how omnipresent this guy was in the media. He endorsed virtually everything. Driving back this afternoon from the Bird’s Nest into town I saw his face on billboards no les than six times.

The popularity of Liu Xiang, this nation's great expectations on him and the unspoken yet prevailing feeling that only Chinese athletes excel in so-called mainstream sports like basketball or swimming can some Chinese fan feel assured of this nation’s success as a genuine sports superpower.

So his sudden drop-out hurt many Chinese people’s feelings, who really put too much pressure on a single track athletes. The CCTV reporters showed little emotion in what is an enormous disappointment for Liu. Back at the studio, an anchor mentions that this was an unforeseen result. “We expected Liu Xiang to win,” he said.

In Beijing 2008 Olympics, when Liu Xiang finally shows up with those trendy running shoes, people are filled with excitement, but we can see the face expression on Liuxiang, which is not showing much pain, yet not confidence. I know he is making the most hard decision of his lifetime. He was painful both in body and psychology. He needs understanding.

Liu's drop-out is a little bit hard for ordinary people of China to accept. The endings of the story is beyond anyone's expection, but if the pain on his heel is the only reason why he quited, I do understand. And we still have the other two sprinters that qualify for the next round, hope them can spark on the world stage. Four years of the Olympic period is a circle, Liu Xiang maybe fall on the ground this time, but I believe he will soar again. If you search the web, you'll find at least 80% of netizens just show thier understanding. If you search the web, you'll find at least 80% of netizens just show thier understanding.

While he couldn't win gold in Beijing, he showed Chinese athletes that they could win gold in sports outside their traditional areas of dominance. He will have to share the spotlight with new stars now, but should be proud of what he helped to inspire on the track in Athens in 2004.


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