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'Nervous' Liu Xiang coasts to easy victory
By Lei Lei (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-21 05:44
NANJING: Olympic gold medallist Liu Xiang did not disappoint his fans at the
10th National Games yesterday evening he clocked 13.10 seconds in the 110m
hurdles, adding another trophy to his growing collection as he cruised to a
comfortable victory.
Olympic gold
medallist Liu Xiang reacts after winning the 110m hurdles last night at
the 10th National Games in Nanjing.
[newsphoto] | Shi Dongpeng from Hebei was second
with 13.44 seconds, while Tianjin's Chen Ming finished third with 13.70.
Leading from the first hurdle, the 22-year-old Shanghai native defended his
national title convincingly on a wet track, even though he eased off in the
final sprint.
"I feel a little bit nervous on the track because it is the National Games,"
said Liu immediately before the race. "I won the gold at the last National Games
four years ago and I'm eager to defend the title. So I'm here to run."
Both Liu and his coach expressed their satisfaction with the final time,
despite it being well off the world record time of 12.91.
"The result is out of my expectation and I'm very satisfied with it," said
Liu, whose best time this year is 13.05.
His coach Sun Haiping said: "I expected him to run at about 13.20 seconds
before the race but he did very well in spite of the wet track," said Sun. "We
hope to win the national title three successive times. This second one is very
important."
Liu admitted that he did not try his very best.
"It is a national competition and the most important thing is to avoid
injury," said Liu, who performed at a steady level during this year's
international showdowns.
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