So is super star Athlete Liu Xiang like the Greek Warrior Achilles, invincible but for his heel, his only weakness that would make him fall?
What an incredible PR bonanza, isn’t this a lot better than racing and ensuring multi millions of dollars of endorsement! Like everybody else I was looking forward to the hurdles, but not only was it disappointing, it was impossible to believe! If he was already in pain prior to the race, why did he even bother to try, he cannot use drugs to dull out the pain.
I am not the only one who is suspicious and the forums are lively on debate on this topic.
The conspiracy saga rages on from Corporate intent (Nike is involved) to just personal failure. Somehow, I hope I never find out because it would be too much to bear for a Nation who has had its biggest glory moment. Liu Xiang statistically did not have much of a chance to win Gold, infact some question if he would even qualify! The Nike argument comes largely because of the profit share that is made between Athlete, Coach and the association and Liu Xiang is certainly a gravy train right now in sponsorship. Now that he will be likened with Achilles, it may look even better, or so it might be hoped.
As quoted:
The question buzzing around online forums is: If Liu has had this injury for six or seven years, why did he deny it just 13 days before the start of the Beijing Olympic Games?
Liu had not mentioned his injury until August 18.
Xi Jiang, a reporter for the Secret China website wrote, “On July 30, a message posted by ‘JCCG’ on a China online forum said, ‘Liu Xiang is going to quit the competition because of his injuries.’”
The message continued: “The day before yesterday, I searched the Yahoo Olympics ‘Life Service’ page, and I found someone was reselling a ticket for the 110 meter hurdles. I was so happy. I spent 1500 yuan and got the ticket! Liu Xiang, you are my idol and I am willing to pay a fortune for it.
“However, today (July 30), when I showed it off to a friend of mine, he said that he knew the inside story. Liu Xiang is going to miss the 110m hurdles and that is the reason why someone is willing to resell the ticket. He seems quite sure about it so I’m starting to feel suspicious about the whole thing.”
He has not raced in 2008 and only trained in seclusion, is it because of the injury or part of a bigger plan? Let’s hope we never find out.
August 27th, 2008 at 2:35 am
To answer your post, yes, I was devastated, too when I saw the whole thing unfolding. But how is it “impossible to believe”? His Achilles tendon is longer and thinner than the average person’s (like most runners), so it was easier to damage than the average person’s. That was also compounded by the fact that there’s so much strain put on it whenever he explodes out of the starting blocks, he’s doing high-impact running on it, and it was a previous training.
The news about his injuries were kept hush-hush/shrouded because Dayron Robles shaved off his record by .01 of a second, which is all the difference in that field. They didn’t want his competitors to get that edge in knowing the favorite was injured.
His injury is the type of injury that would cause a normal person, with less mental and physical discipline, to scream out loud. Had he competed, his tendon would’ve separated from his bone, ending his competitive career forever.
With all the money from his competitors coming in, they’d be STUPID to tell him not to do it. He TRIED to do it anyway because he loves this sport. He loves his country and its people. It took a lot of courage to go there and try his best. Nike made him very specific shoes and clothes, so at least he got to showcase that for them.
Shame on you for believing the conspiracy theories. At a moment like this, when he needs the most support, he gets ignorant, misinformed people like you and that ridiculous article. Then again, there are still people who think we’ve never been on the moon.
If you did your research, you’d see that he won gold at the IAAF indoor world championships for the 60m hurdles and also at the Good Luck Beijing track meet earlier this year, which was held at the Bird’s Nest.
He’s going to come back next year and I hope you feel ashamed that you listened to all those retarded rumors.
August 31st, 2008 at 2:28 am
I don’t disagree that you believe him, but everyone is entitled to their opinion, there is no shame in believing anything, why must there be shame involved? The easiest thing is for him to do what Yao Ming did, then all is good but he’s not so he allows for conspiracy theories to flow.