Liu Xiang Hopes to Win Gold in Hometown

by Chad Klassen
Love of Sports Correspondent

The anticipation of the 110m hurdles must be creating a huge buzz locally in Beijing, and nationally across China, with one of their own entering the Games on top of the world.

One of the best hurdlers in the world and defending Olympic champion in the event, Liu Xiang, will create an explosion of energy in Beijing National Stadium when he steps onto the track to try and capture back-to-back gold medals.

Xiang currently holds the Olympic record – posting 12.91 four years ago in Athens – coming into the Summer Games and has been gearing up for this monumental moment in Chinese sports since 2004, when he earned China’s first ever gold in track and field.

He’s been the face of the country for the last four years since the historic win, but all the fame and fortune comes with tons of pressure and tremendously high expectations from the Chinese people and media.

The weight on his shoulders is definitely warranted given where Xiang is physically coming into the Olympics. Until June, he was the first Chinese athlete to possess track’s Triple Crown (World Record, reigning world and Olympic champion in any given event).

The upcoming 110m is Xiang’s to lose. If he doesn’t hold the gold around his neck come the Closing Ceremony, it will be a complete disappointment for the Olympic favorite and the Chinese faithful.

But don’t expect Xiang to leave an empty feeling in the home crowd. In his last eight hurdling events, including the gold medals from the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2007 World Championships, Xiang has recorded seven victories, and there’s no reason to think he won’t continue the hot streak in Beijing.

There’s no question he’s has put himself in a position to win his second Olympic gold, in his home country no less, and has undoubtedly put the event on the top of people’s priorities in terms of essential viewing.

Since his ascent to the top of the world, the Chinese track fans have been desperate to get their hands on tickets to the premier race, wherever they’d be seated in the stadium.

The 110m final will likely be a showdown between the hometown boy, Xiang, and Cuban Dayron Robles, who broke the world record in mid-June with a time of 12.87.

Despite the record-breaking performance, though, it was a track meet that didn’t sport Xiang and some of the other top contenders. Robles finished fourth at the 2007 World Championships competing against the world’s best, and the presence of Xiang will definitely change the dynamic of the event in Beijing.

That said, Xiang remains the favorite to repeat as Olympic gold medalist, and it will take an astonishing display of hurdling from Robles or another competitor to knock off China’s god amongst athletes and mark a disappointing end to a fascinating hometown story.