By Bill Smith Aug 18, 2008, 8:07 GMT
Beijing - State broadcaster China Central Television set the tone for the country's 1.3 billion people on Monday after Liu Xiang's injury forced him out of his heat.
CCTV's Olympic channel showed the whole press conference live, including Liu's coach breaking down in tears, and followed it with replayed close-ups of Liu limping along the track.
The replays were interspersed with archive film of Liu in action. Sad music played throughout the sequence and the screen held the caption 'Respect for Liu Xiang'.
Few athletes had carried a higher burden of expectation into this year's games than the former world record holder.
The standing in China of the gold medallist at the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2007 IAAF World Championships was epitomized by Chinese President Hu Jintao handing Liu the Olympic torch on March 31.
Hu lit the flame in a large cauldron in in Beijing's Tiananmen Square before handing his torch to Liu to begin the global torch relay for the 2008 Olympics.
That scene must have pleased Liu's growing list of sponsors, and has intensified speculation that the 24-year-old could be China's flag bearer at the opening ceremony, especially if injury forces NBA basketball superstar Yao Ming to miss the games.
Nike, Coca Cola, Visa, China Mobile, Yili dairy products, Pingan insurance, the Bank of Communications, Amway, Lenovo computers and China Post are among at least 15 companies using Liu's name in advertising.
At least five of the sponsorship contracts are each worth more than 10 million yuan (1.4 million dollars), according to state media and comments by Liu's coach, Sun Haiping.
But the rejection of all contracts with Japanese firms is reportedly his 'first principle' in considering sponsorship, following the many Chinese who retain anti-Japanese sentiment because of atrocities committed by Japanese troops in China in World War II.
Still, Forbes List estimated Liu's total income at 160 million yuan (23.2 million dollars) last year, making him China's second-richest sports star after Yao Ming.
Liu's presence attracted up to 60,000 spectators and 2,200 journalists to an Olympic test event in Beijing in May, despite the absence of all his main rivals from the competition.
'His every movement - from warming up to crossing the finish line - inspired screams from the crowd,' the China Daily newspaper said.
But a tight hamstring forced him to pull out of his next race, the Reebok Grand Prix in New York on May 31, and Sun on Monday said Liu had been fighting injury for at least six years.
Liu's single status makes him a magnet for many female fans. He is mobbed whenever he is seen out in public in China, forcing him to hide behind the walls of training centres and blacked-out car windows.
Feng Shuyong, the head coach of the Chinese athletics team, on Monday said the pressure on Liu did have 'some negative impact' on his preparations.
His ascendancy to the pinnacle of athletics came after he faced the prospect of failure as a teenager.
Like most top Chinese athletes, Shanghai-born Liu trained at an elite sports school. He began as a high-jumper but in 1998 his coaches persuaded the then 15-year-old Liu to switch to hurdling because bone tests showed that he would not grow tall enough to become a top-class jumper.
Liu took to hurdling so well that in 2002 he set a new world junior record for the 110 metres and earned a bronze medal at the World Championships in 2003.
He then equalled the world record of 12.91 seconds in winning the Athens event, becoming the first Chinese man to win an Olympic gold in track and field. Liu then set a new record of 12.88 seconds in 2006.
When Liu won gold in Athens, he called his victory a 'miracle' and said he hoped to see more such performances at the Beijing games.
'It is a proud moment not only for China, but for Asia and all people who share the same yellow skin colour,' Liu told reporters after his Athens win.
Most online messages were as sympathetic as the state television coverage on Monday.
'I believe the Chinese people will understand this situation and encourage him to come back,' Feng said.
'It's okay. Take care of that tendon and thrill us again when you're well,' a commentator using the name George Hwang said on the China Daily website.
'You'll always remain the first Asian who broke into this Olympic event,' Hwang said.
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