Shocked as China's track dream dies

CHINA’S big race was about to start but giant stadium screens showed only the empty starting blocks that should have held the country's greatest Olympic hope. Tears trickled down the faces of thousands of fans who had just watched their hero, hurdler Liu Xiang, hobble away from his defense of the first track gold medal won by a Chinese man.

Liu looked nervous and in pain, suddenly changing his top just before the race and wincing as he rubbed his right leg, it was no secret that he had been struggling with injuries for much of the year.

There was a false start and, as the runners pulled up after just a few meters, Liu's elegant stride became ominously lopsided, more a shuffle than a sprint. The crowd watched in stunned silence as he turned, limped back towards the starting line and just kept walking on into a trackside tunnel and out of the Beijing Games.

Now, the TEARS of millions began!!!

But that's what has been so compelling about Liu Xiang's story. In every way, he is unprecedented. How many times can we write "first" after his name? First Chinese man to win a gold medal in Olympic track and field. First Asian man to win an Olympic sprint competition. First athlete not from North America or Europe to win an Olympic medal of any color in this event. Liu Xiang is simply unique.

Whatever else Liu Xiang does in his athletic career is extra. He's already a world and Olympic champion and a former world record holder. What I most hope for him and his team is for the pressure to be let off now, so that he can just be another athlete when we get to London in 2012, in a country where he can walk the streets and not be recognized, and perhaps line up for the 110-meter hurdles again and enjoy the process without becoming obsessed with the result.