For Chinese, Liu´s withdrawal caps rethinking of gold obsession

Source: Xinhua | 08-20-2008 10:02

BEIJING, Aug 20 (Xinhua) -- As the view of Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang limping off the Olympic track stunned and disappointed the nation on Monday, the reaction of the mega-star's countrymen would have been equally surprising if it were two decades ago.

When Li Ning, a triple Olympic gold medalist in 1984 and the "Gymnastic Prince" in China, stumbled and failed in the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, he was met with a tide of anger and even hate mail containing razor blades and ropes upon his arrival home.

Lauded as a national hero as Li, Liu received an equally-dramatic response for his withdrawal due to foot injury -- but this time with overwhelming sympathy and support and a climax of rethinking of the nation's obsession with gold medals.

Among more than 160,000 surveyed by the Chinese channel of MSN.com as of Tuesday noon, over 37 percent voted for respect and support for Liu's "quit." About 26 percent "felt the cruelty of sports competition and sighed for Liu," while more than 6 percent said it was hard to accept and still hoped for him to continue the race.

Following the withdrawal news on China's biggest portal website Sina.com, more than 3.6 million online comments were overwhelmed by warm words such as "Liu Xiang, you're still my hero," "we'll always support you" and "Go, Liu Xiang."

In a sign of what his victory would have meant to the country, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping sent a telegram to the General Administration of Sport on Monday, saying the country's top leaders all understood the Shanghai native's situation and hoped "he will relax and focus on recovery."

Liu's withdrawal was the last thing Chinese wanted to see in the long-expected Olympic Games held on home soil. The 25-year-old won the 110-meter hurdles at the 2004 Athens Olympics, the first Olympic gold medal in such a competition for a country where track and field stars were scarce.