About a year ago, while the Beijing Olympic Games were underway, I wrote a post about Liu Xiang, a wonderful track-and-field athlete who withdrew from the Men's 110 meter hurdles under circumstances that some considered mysterious. I thought I'd provide a bit of a follow up here.
The damage done by the injury that forced Liu out of that Olympics was significant enough that he has done no competing this year, either. At least not thus far this year. There is at least some speculation he may have to hang up his cleats for good, though he has made no such announcement yet.
Meanwhile, the hot new phenom in the Chinese track-and-field scene, who says he draws his inspiration from Liu's career, is Lu Jiateng, portrayed in the photo I've attached.
Lu took gold at the Asian Youth Games in Singapore, finishing the 110-meter hurdle in 13.96 seconds. He'll need to shave at least a second off of that to compete at the very highest level, but I'm told he's worth watching.
So best of luck to Liu in rehab and Lu in his ongoing career.
No comments:
Post a Comment