BEIJING, August 18 (Xinhua) -- Feng Shuyong, head coach of the Chinese Athletics team, said that he was very upset about Liu Xiang's withdrawal from the Olympic Men's 110m Hurdles on Monday morning.
Liu, defending Olympic gold medalist and world champion, pulled out of the qualifying round of the event due to a painful injury to his Achilles' tendon, reported the coach. The hurdler did not show up in the press conference after the race.
"After the Athens Olympics, the only target of Liu was to defend his title. He has worked very hard for achieving this goal," said Feng.
Feng remarked that Liu's injury "was old but controlled very well. That's the reason why Liu performed very well in competitions in the past years."
According to the coach, the injury to Liu's foot flared up last Saturday during training. "He was still confident of sprinting," said Feng.
In remarks to the press, Feng commended the star athlete, "He has strong mentality and has never given up in any case."
"Liu was very, very upset about the result. Liu said he would never give up as long as he can run," said Feng.
Posts
