By Sportswriter Wu Junkuan
LONDON, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Waiting on the starting blocks, Liu Xiang looked beyond the hurdles to the finishing line. Several seconds later, Liu crashed into the first hurdle in his first round heat of the men's 110m hurdles at the London Olympic Games on Tuesday.
The 29-year-old Liu injured his right foot and limped off the track, ending his hope to regain Olympic glory in London.
Everything seemed to be deja vu when the former world record holder and 2004 Olympic champion withdrew from the 2008 Beijing Games because of a tendon injury in his right foot.
But this time Liu made things different. He hopped over the rest of the distance on his left foot to symbolically finish his race. He also stopped at a hurdle and kissed it, earning a rousing ovation from the 80,000 crowd at the Olympic Stadium.
"What Liu Xiang did today reflected the true Olympic spirit," said Chinese athletics team leader Feng Shuyong. "Winning is not so important, participation is what matters.
"We've all seen how hard it is for him. It is such a pity but his spirit is there."
"I think he made a lot of efforts over the past four years trying to do well. But in competitive sports, anything can happen.
Liu's spirit and sportsmanship won praise, not only from Chinese sport officials and millions of Chinese, but also from his foreign friends and opponents.
"I regard him as probably the best hurdler in history and have so much respect for him. It was horrible seeing him limp off like that so you have to go and help people," said British hurdler Andy Turner, who won the heat in 13.42 seconds and helped the struggling Liu off the track at the finish.
Turner's respect for Liu was echoed by Aries Merritt of the United States, who set the season leading time of 12.93 seconds before the Games.
"It's just a tragedy for that to happen to one of the best hurdlers of all time," said the American. "I do not think he is injured before the competition. He warmed up great. Everything looked fine. I just think he had a technical mistake. He got too close to the hurdle. He clipped it and it is really hard to recover after something like that."
Jamaican star sprinter Usain Bolt also lauded Liu Xiang a "true champion" despite his heartbreaking elimination from Games.
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