Was Liu Xiang too scared to face the competition?

Question

Too many harsh words fying on the internet forum. Does he deserve it?

Answer 1

liu xiang was not too scared!  he does not deserve those harsh words!

this is really maddening.

i'm especially pissed at some chinese fans (SOME) who are mad at Liu Xiang because they took a vacation, payed all that money, and wasted all that time just to watch him.

if they watch him trip over a hurdle and fall, would they be satisfied? will they be content when they find out that china's favorite athlete had an injury so bad that it might be the end of his career? it's so disappointing how some fans are angry just because he won't be able tto represent china, but it's also heartwarming how there are many fans (not just in china) that cheer him on and hope that he gets better to kick butt.

i for one hope that he'll be able to compete in the 2012 olympics in london and break the world record.

Answer 2

nooooope, of course not.  I have to say I'm disappointed but I'll not gonna blame him for having to quit.  I'm sure he  will carry on if he wasn't injured and I believe he's the last person in the world who wants to see a result like this. I'll support him as always, and so will my fellow Chinese.

Answer 3

Well, rumours are flying around that he didn't train hard and was quite arrogant before the olympics.  He even told the olympic committee to buzz off after they approached him regarding running the torch.

On race day itself, the eyes of the entire host nation were on him and if he had come in 4th place in the heats due to arrogance and lack of practice, he would have lost all his 55 million a year contracts from Nike etc etc.  Instead of losing that money, he would just hobble around in pain and walk off to make sure no one questions that he was "hurt".

Anyway, those are the rumours.  I'm staying neutral on this and see what turns out.  I can already see all the negative marks that will come from chinese in china.

Edit:  look there they are lol.

Answer 4

Its an injury, and nothing to do with being scared. He would have wanted to race for his life.

Answer 5

He was one of the favourites to win Gold.. sure he has pressure performing on his homeground, but u cant say he was too scared to face the event as he has been training for this very hard.. if anything, he would want to succeed in his home olympics more than ever.. and he did try to give it a go.. but with an injury that has been bothering him on and off for the last few yrs.. u cant blame him and he deserves more respect than that from ppl bashing him, he is still a hero in my books..

Answer 6

No.I pity him in fact.So disappointing.

Answer 7

okay, first of all, he has a long term injury in his achilles tendon, and its been causing him to not be able to stand on his right foot, which is also his takeoff foot. this problem comes up every once in awhile. just a week before the competition, liu broke his own world record during a training session, so he wasn't afraid of the competition.

second of all, he was under a LOT of pressure. he carried the entire nation's weight on his shoulders. china EXPECTED him to get a gold medal. it was like a fact to everyone: liu xiang is going to win gold. and with his leg acting up, he wasn't able to practice and train as much as usual, which was a huge disadvantage for him.

third of all, liu xiang was very self confident. he himself said that he wanted to race, and didn't care whether he was going to lose or win. it was the racing that he wanted to do, not the winning.

fourth of all, he doesnt have the choice. he MUST race, because the endorsements that he signed with cadillac, visa, and other companies require him to win gold medals. so even if he was afraid of the competition, he wouldn't have been able to back out.

so i think its really unfair to say he was afraid of the competition. he's only 25, and he's accomplished so much already. cut him some slack. he's depressed enough already. there's a chance that he may not be able to race ever again, because of his injury, which is cutting through his achilles tendon into his bone.  

Answer 8

No. I don't think he was scared. I actually thought what he did was brave. I mean, not too many athletes would compete at all if they had an injury. He decided to take his chances with pride, and he did so among millions. He used all he can to start off. Sadly one of the competitors made a false start. It's was good that he knew his body's limit so he can run again instead of making his injury worse.

Answer 9

I think Liu is one and done as an athlete.

That injury is over 6 months old and if he still has problems with it, he will never heal properly to compete.  All the so called World Record holders from 2007 are being beaten by new upstart youngsters.  I am sort of on the line on him.  I believe he really wanted to compete for China, but there is also alot of personal stakes on the line for him.

He has multi-million dollar endorsements if he wins another gold, where will he be after this??  

Answer 10

i guess Liu Xiang think China already got too many gold medals. so he was doing kinda charity to the Americans.  

Answer 11

no, but i feel sympathy for him. i hope he attends 2012

Answer 12

Liu Xiang withdrew due to an injury. The Chinese have pretty a high tolerence level for pain so I'm sure it must have been really bad. I think he made a wise decision when he chose not to compete. If he had gone ahead and ended up injuring himself permanently, his athletic career would be over.  

Answer 13

All the negatives are coming from people who know absolutely nothing about track and about sprinting in particular.

Liu has a badly inflamed Achilles tendon. This causes two problems, first by being severly painful it makes it nearly impossible to maintain the perfect form needed to compete in an internation sprint. Second, racing on a problem Achilles is severley risky because it can tear the tendon clean off the heel, ending a sprinter's career possibly forever.

A sprinter learns to pay attention to all the parts of their body that can go wrong, and for them they are many. Tyson g*y went nowhere in the 100 and didn't make the US 200 team because a spasm in a hamstring at the trials caused muscle tears forcing him to be carried off on a stretcher. Their bodies are fragile and sprinting can break them with acute, traumatic injuries. This is the opposite of what happens to distance athletes who suffer injuries that build up gradually like stress fractures and chondromalacia.

People who are bad-mouthing Liu should check themselves. The alternative would have been seeing him lying on the track after the fifth hurdle, then carried off the track with a ruptured tendon, and still a DNF in the heats.

Answer 14

To be one of China's greatest sports star, he has to learn to face critism and negative feedback. His withdrawal will definitely raise many unhappiness. This is society nature. Find me one topic/issue that is agreed 100% by everyone?

I personally don't believe he is too scared to face the competition. (Although my first natural reflex was this sentiment but was quickly brushed away when logic and faith step in). Injury happens all the time especially to sportsmen. Luck Lady is just not by his side this time.

Answer 15

No. He was the reigning Olympic champion and previous world record holder. He has trained very hard for this and, of course, wanted to run.

Hopefully he will recover from his injury.