<p>London 2012 lost one of its marquee clashes on Tuesday when Chinese ace Liu Xiang crashed out injured in the first round of the men’s 110M hurdles.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Liu’s face off with Americans Aries Merritt and Jason Richardson was touted as one of the highlights of the athletics programme but the Chinese star couldn’t even clear the first hurdle in heat six of the first round. Liu, champion at Athens in 2004 and a former world record holder, took off the blocks and stumbled at the first hurdle, bringing his Olympics dreams to a tragic end. He clutched at his right Achilles and as the race went on, hopped off the track before being wheel-chaired away. Entire China had wept when he hobbled off in Beijing 2008, unable to defend his title. After surgery and rehabilitation, Liu had slowly made his way back, winning the Asian Games gold in 2010 and World Championships silver in 2011. <br /><br />This season, he had clocked a scorching 12.87 seconds at Eugene but the old injury had begun to trouble him again. He pulled out of the final of the Diamond League in London due to a side strain and went off to train in Germany but his coach Sun Haiping had said that Liu had felt pain in his Achilles there. <br /><br />“The doctor said it was not serious but I don’t think so. I worry about it,” he had told Xinhua on arriving here. On Tuesday, China’s athletics team leader Feng Shuyong it was same injury that had ended his Beijing dreams. “The injury is the same. In the last several years, he has had good medical care but it is still there. An Achilles injury is almost impossible to recover from fully,” he said, adding that Liu was not thinking about retiring.<br /><br />“It is a real pity for him and for Chinese track and field. We believe he will be okay. The initial diagnosis is that he has a broken Achilles tendon.”<br /><br />Jamaican super star Usain Bolt, who ran his 200M first round on Tuesday, was among <br />those sympathising with Liu. “It must be hard for him to happen second time in a row. He is a great athlete, the most amazing this is he came back from injury. He switched legs and started leading with a different leg. He is a true champion, so sorry for him.”<br /><br /></p>
<p>London 2012 lost one of its marquee clashes on Tuesday when Chinese ace Liu Xiang crashed out injured in the first round of the men’s 110M hurdles.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Liu’s face off with Americans Aries Merritt and Jason Richardson was touted as one of the highlights of the athletics programme but the Chinese star couldn’t even clear the first hurdle in heat six of the first round. Liu, champion at Athens in 2004 and a former world record holder, took off the blocks and stumbled at the first hurdle, bringing his Olympics dreams to a tragic end. He clutched at his right Achilles and as the race went on, hopped off the track before being wheel-chaired away. Entire China had wept when he hobbled off in Beijing 2008, unable to defend his title. After surgery and rehabilitation, Liu had slowly made his way back, winning the Asian Games gold in 2010 and World Championships silver in 2011. <br /><br />This season, he had clocked a scorching 12.87 seconds at Eugene but the old injury had begun to trouble him again. He pulled out of the final of the Diamond League in London due to a side strain and went off to train in Germany but his coach Sun Haiping had said that Liu had felt pain in his Achilles there. <br /><br />“The doctor said it was not serious but I don’t think so. I worry about it,” he had told Xinhua on arriving here. On Tuesday, China’s athletics team leader Feng Shuyong it was same injury that had ended his Beijing dreams. “The injury is the same. In the last several years, he has had good medical care but it is still there. An Achilles injury is almost impossible to recover from fully,” he said, adding that Liu was not thinking about retiring.<br /><br />“It is a real pity for him and for Chinese track and field. We believe he will be okay. The initial diagnosis is that he has a broken Achilles tendon.”<br /><br />Jamaican super star Usain Bolt, who ran his 200M first round on Tuesday, was among <br />those sympathising with Liu. “It must be hard for him to happen second time in a row. He is a great athlete, the most amazing this is he came back from injury. He switched legs and started leading with a different leg. He is a true champion, so sorry for him.”<br /><br /></p>
