Chinese hurdler Liu eyes Olympic medal in Athens

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, February 24, 2004

Chinese hurdler Liu eyes Olympic medal in Athens

Since the demise of legendary coach Ma Junren's long distance running squad "Ma's Army", hurdler Liu Xiang has become China's only hope to win a medal on track in the Olympic athletics competition.

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Since the demise of legendary coach Ma Junren's long distance running squad "Ma's Army", hurdler Liu Xiang has become China's only hope to win a medal on track in the Olympic athletics competition.

The 20-year-old emerged as a national hero last year after winning the men's 110m hurdles bronze medals at both the Indoor and Outdoor World Championships, held in Birmingham and Paris respectively.

"The most important thing for me is to win something for my country in this year's Olympic Games," said the Shanghai-born Liu on Monday before leaving for the World Indoor Championships in Budapest, Hungary starting on March 5.

"I know a lot of people have pinned high hopes on me, and that's put me under some pressure," he said. "But my biggest advantage is that I am still young."

Liu is in a superb form coming out of a winter training camp, equaling his own Asian indoor 60 meters record of 7.51 seconds in the national indoor championships in Shanghai on February 14.

But he should have run better if he had not slowed down at the last moment in the race.

"I could have run 7.46 or 7.48 seconds if I had tried my best, "he said after winning the race. "But I never thought of breaking the Asian record. I would rather break it in international competitions."

He clocked 7.52 seconds to finish third in the world indoor championships last year, behind U.S. world record holder Allen Johnson's 7.47 and Cuba's Anier Garcia's 7.49.

Liu said Johnson, gold medal winner in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, is the hardest hurdle for him to cross in the coming years.

"My muscle is not as mature as Allen's, he will be the favorite to win in Athens," said the beaming Liu.

Liu's coach Sun Haiping said: "He is on a par with a group of rivals while Allen may stand shoulders above them," Sun said. "Whoever overcome the pressure can finish the top three."

Liu will warm up in an international indoor competition in Paris before heading for the Budapest Indoor Worlds.

Feng Shuyong, head coach of the Chinese national team, said Liu has improved a lot after the winter training. "He is in a much better form than the same period last year. He landed a bronze medal at the last year's indoor championships, so we hope he can get something again this time," Feng said.

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