China shocked as Liu Xiang crashes out of Olympics

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China shocked as Liu Xiang crashes out of Olympics

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China was in shock Tuesday as athletics hero Liu Xiang crashed out of the Olympic 110m hurdles.

07 August,2012 05:40 pm

Even state television sports commentator Yang Jian could not hold back his tears as he reported the news to a stunned nation. His sobs were heard live during the CCTV broadcast of Lius elimination.Liu, former world record holder and winner of the 2004 Olympic crown, ploughed into the first hurdle and crashed to the ground to end his London dreams.The Internet was instantly flooded with comments on the national heros performance, with Liu nicknamed Liu Shuaishuai (Liu fell-fell) on Sina Weibo, Chinas version of Twitter.I never imagined that you would say goodbye in this way to your third Olympiad, one commentator using the name Maymaypmp said in a microblog posted on Sina Weibo.Liu -- who has been troubled by back and foot problems in the past month -- was helped off the track and then taken away from the arena in a wheelchair and then to the medical centre.A single injury to a man causes suffering to a population of 1.3 billion people, said another user posting as AAAAA.How cruel competitive sports are Liu Xiang is getting old, said Kouyamin, also on Weibo.But some were more sympathetic to their fallen idol.Liu Xiang you are still our hero, said SowahFong.Lius dream of winning gold in front of his home crowd at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 ended in one of the great Olympic anti-climaxes as he turned up for his heat but failed to clear a hurdle, clearly hindered by an Achilles tendon injury.It took more than a year for him to return to competition at the top level.