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Liu beaten as Achilles tendon still a concern
By Ma Yue |
February 27, 2010, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
LIU Xiang's Achilles tendon remains a worry.
The Chinese hurdler finished fourth in a national 60 meters hurdles competition in Shanghai yesterday, essentially due to a starting error, but admitted later that the tendon on the right foot remained a cause for concern.
The one-off 60m hurdles competition at Liu's training base in Xinzhuang, Minhang District, was hastily arranged by the Chinese Athletics Association to prepare the Athens Olympic champion for the World Indoor Championships in Doha, starting March 12.
Liu, who pulled out of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, underwent surgery on his troubled right foot in Houston and returned to the tracks last September.
He finished second at the 2009 Shanghai Golden Grand Prix and won the Asian Athletics Championships in Guangzhou and the East Asian Games in Hong Kong.
Doha will be his first major international competition since making a return from injury.
Yesterday's race consisted of a qualifier and a final with a one-hour gap between them -- the same format as in Doha where the men's 60m hurdles semifinal and final will be held on the same day with a two-hour break.
Liu led the qualifier yesterday before holding back and finishing second behind his national teammate Shi Dongpeng.
In the six-man final, the Shanghai-born national champion lost pace at the start and hit the first and third hurdle.
Though he stayed close to Shi and Yi Jing, Liu finished fourth with a time of 8.05 seconds. Yi Jing of the Chinese Army won the race in 7.95 seconds while Shi came in behind him.
Colin Jackson of Britain holds the world record in 60m at 7.30.
"My first step at the start was too big which disturbed my rhythm before the first hurdle," Liu said, adding that he slowed down in the later part of the race to protect his Achilles tendon.
He however said: "I don't regard today's race as a real competition. I will definitely not slow down in a serious competition."
Liu said he felt a bit sore in the right foot after wearing his spikes for long.
"I have prepared myself mentally that this is going to be a long-term battle (the discomfort in the foot).
"If I want to push myself, I can surely do it, but it makes me feel uncomfortable in the foot."
Playing down expectation for the upcoming Doha Championships, Liu said his goal was to reach the final. He tipped his main rival Dayron Robles of Cuba to win the event.
"My aim is to reach the final. To finish in the top three is still going to be difficult for me. Robles is the strongest candidate in both 60 and 110 meters. There are few who can challenge him."
Liu is the defending world indoor champion, winning the 2008 event in Valencia, Spain, with a time of 7.46 seconds.
He has been preparing for the eagerly-awaited finale in Doha, Qatar, against Robles and Terrence Trammell of the United States.
Yesterday's loss was also his first in a national competition since he became the Olympic champion at Athens in 2004.
Olympic champion Robles won the Birmingham Indoors last week clocking 7.44 seconds while Trammell raced 7.43 seconds in Leipzig, Germany, earlier this month.
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