Liu’s injury leaves China brokenhearted

[kalbi]

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/track_field/news?slug=jo-liuxiang081808&prov=yhoo&type=lgns


The moment Liu walked off the track at the National Stadium, the world got new insight into an emerging superpower long thought to be unemotional, detached and inscrutable – a perception reinforced by the stiff-faced and rigid soldiers patrolling the Olympic grounds.

We got to see China’s heart.


This article humanizes the Chinese, so its a new angle through which Americans can see them. It's a nice break from their usual "the Chinese have no soul!" hysteria.

[nskripchun]

It's rare to see an Asian track star, let alone one that had Liu's talent. I could feel the pain of the Chinese crowd echoing through the TV screen...

Someone asked him what Liu had told him after withdrawing from the race.

“I just spoke to Liu Xiang outside and he’s very depressed,” Halping said through an interpreter.

A reporter asked Halping how he felt.

The coach leaned toward the microphone, then buried his face into his hands. He began to sob, stifled the tears, then broke down again, and again, and again. It was as if all of China was weeping in a display that stood in stark contrast to those stiff and stern-faced soldiers.


Best wishes to Liu on him somehow healing and bouncing back from this.

[little mixed girl]

i feel sorry for the guy.
but apparently ppl on the internet aren't sharing the same sentiment.

[RebelAzn]

China already won more medals than it ever did. China already crushed its old gold medal record of 32 with 45 already. They already won more gold medals than USA record of 44. In addition, they already got total of 79 medals. The Olympics have been beyond successful.

I feel sorry for Liu, but it is part of being an athlete. China should celebrate a zillion other gold medalists they already got.

[kwak76]

I think to China Liu was there Joe Louis . Kind of like how black people needed a hero in Joe Louis or even Muhammad Ali. It's allot of pressure for one guy but China needs a hero to look up to. It seems like every society wants that.

[RebelAzn]

I think to China Liu was there Joe Louis . Kind of like how black people needed a hero in Joe Louis or even Muhammad Ali. It's allot of pressure for one guy but China needs a hero to look up to. It seems like every society wants that.

He is already a hero because he already achieved that in 2004 Olympics. There is no need for him to prove anything else. There are plenty of other athletes who should be celebrated in China. He is a hero in a sense he did something no other Asian athlete has done in track and field. People used to say about that for swimming too, but number of medals Asian athletes are getting in swimming prove it is just a matter of time with the right guy.

Besides, there are other Chinese hurdlers who are up and coming. It is just matter of time before another one breaks some record. Either that, China better get busy and get some of these Jamaican track stars to become Chinese citizens like every other country is doing with their imported athletes.