As a world-recognized sports power, We have produced a large number of world champions in China. However, if you want to ask who is more representative, then the hurdles star Liu Xiang is definitely on the list. At the 2006 Swiss Lausanne Athletics Super Grand Prix, when Liu Xiang ran a time of 12.88 seconds and won the 110m hurdles by breaking the world record, Liu Xiang had become the pride of China, Asia and even the yellow race!
As a representative of Chinese athletics, Liu Xiang won a brilliant career. Taking the number of international championships won by Liu Xiang as an example, there were always people on the Internet who said that Liu Xiang won 36 championships in his career, but in fact, this number is not right. According to the official data of the IAAF, Liu Xiang has participated in a total of 84 international competitions in his career, winning 40 championships + 16 runners-up and 11 third places.
This means that Liu Xiang has stood on the podium 67 times in these 84 international competitions, and the probability of winning medals (including gold, silver and bronze) is as high as 79.7%. Coupled with the fact that Liu Xiang has also won 3 4th and 4 5th places, and he has broken the monopoly of black athletes and let the yellow race stand on the highest podium of track and field sprints, it can be seen that Liu Xiang has indeed made outstanding contributions to our Chinese athletics cause.
With a brilliant career, Liu Xiang withdrew from the Olympic Games. One of them was the Beijing Olympics held on his doorstep, and many people could not understand Liu Xiang's approach. Under such preconditions, Liu Xiang also became the target of attack, and eventually Liu Xiang once closed the personal social media comment area.
There was an interesting internet saying before, that is, "Why do bad people only need to put down the butcher knife to become a Buddha, while good people have to go through 9981 difficulties?" This sentence on Liu Xiang can be described as having no sense of violation. If there is no unspeakable secret, who will give up the opportunity to win glory for the country? In fact, everyone is wrong to blame Liu Xiang, and then I will take you to understand the unspeakable secret of Liu Xiang's Olympic withdrawal.
When Liu Xiang withdrew from the Olympic Games for two consecutive olympic games (Beijing Olympic Games + London Olympic Games), there was a topic that caused a terrifying wave on the Internet. That is, many people think that Liu Xiang is carrying too much endorsement, if he does not play, he will have to pay a high penalty, so Liu Xiang did not retire until he was on the field, which was also a major reason why Liu Xiang was attacked at that time.
Is this really the case? In fact, in the period when he was scolded the most fiercely by netizens, Liu Xiang did not defend himself from beginning to end, what is the unspeakable secret behind this?
This answer was not revealed until liu xiang retired, and anyone who pays attention to Liu Xiang will know that he once published an article called "My Runway!" My column" article, and the time point of this article was released after Liu Xiang retired, which also made many Chinese people lament that they had once blamed Liu Xiang.
It turned out to be in this article titled "My Runway! In the article of "My Column", Liu Xiang finally personally explained the withdrawal of the Olympic Games for 2 consecutive years. Compared with the rumors on the Internet about "fear of paying high liquidated damages", the real reason for Liu Xiang's withdrawal from the game is serious injuries. Especially in the winter training in 2006, Liu Xiang's severe sprain of his foot became his lingering nightmare, and it also laid the groundwork for two consecutive Olympic games to withdraw from the Competition.
As we all know, 2006 was the peak of Liu Xiang's career, when he suffered a serious sprain of his foot during winter training, Liu Xiang had to stop all training, and then recovered from the injury for up to 70 days. Although Liu Xiang started the championship journey again after his comeback, injuries still became a hidden danger. However, Liu Xiang's professional attitude is still very dedicated, in order to meet the Beijing Olympic Games in a better state, Liu Xiang chose to withdraw from the New York Grand Prix, the purpose is also to heal his injury.
While the Chinese people were focusing on the Beijing Olympics, Liu Xiang was injured on the eve of the competition, and eventually he had to make a decision to withdraw from the competition. After that, Liu Xiang first traveled to the United States to treat injuries, and then threw himself into arduous training. In order to improve his performance, Liu Xiang made a difficult decision, that is, to change the "8 steps on the column" to "7 steps on the column".
It should be known that before this, Liu Xiang's "8 steps on the column" has been used for more than ten years, and suddenly changed to "7 steps on the column". This is tantamount to ordinary people who originally held a pen with their right hand and suddenly chose to hold a pen with their left hand, and the difficulty of it can be imagined.
However, it turns out that Liu Xiang made a correct decision, in the 2012 Eugene Grand Prix, Liu Xiang ran 12.87 seconds with "7 steps on the hurdles", which also allowed Liu Xiang to level the world record, and that year is about to usher in the London Olympic Games, which also makes the countrymen look forward to Liu Xiang's performance more.
As the saying goes, "the roof leaks in the overnight rain, the ship is late and the head wind is blown", Liu Xiang relapsed from an old injury when he participated in the 2012 Diamond League, and the bane was the sprained foot during the winter training in 2006. That's the cruelty of competitive sports, when athletes stand on the podium, few pay attention to the hard work behind them and the various injuries they suffer while training.
However, there is a very real problem in front of Liu Xiang, after all, the withdrawal of the Beijing Olympic Games has been criticized, and Liu Xiang naturally knows the impact of the withdrawal of the Olympic Games for two consecutive years. So at that time, Liu Xiang resolutely withdrew from the Diamond League and seized the time to carry out rehabilitation, just to be able to catch up with the Olympic Games in 4 years.
When Liu Xiang was seen standing on the scene of the London Olympic Games, the people of the country were ready to cheer for Liu Xiang. But dreams are beautiful, but reality is cruel. When the 110m hurdles of the London Olympics began, Liu Xiang only ran a few steps before falling on the field, due to a serious injury to a ruptured Achilles tendon.
At the moment of falling to the ground, I believe that no one can better understand the feeling of powerlessness than Liu Xiang, and his overwhelmed eyes looked at the end, and his eyes were full of reluctance and unwillingness for the Olympic arena. However, Liu Xiang did not want to end his Olympic journey in this way, even if the Achilles tendon had been broken, but Liu Xiang still endured severe pain, chose to jump on one leg to the finish line to bid farewell to the London Olympic Games, and the scene of him bowing his head and kissing the railing was also touching.
Some people may feel strange, since Liu Xiang had such a serious injury at that time, why did he insist on playing? In fact, this is the most admirable place for Liu Xiang, in the case of knowing that there are hidden dangers of injury, Liu Xiang is still racing against the clock for rehabilitation training to catch up with the London Olympic Games, after all, who will give up the opportunity to win glory for the country?
But what no one expected was that Liu Xiang paid a painful price for the rupture of the Achilles tendon. As for why Liu Xiang did not explain himself afterwards, it can only be said that in Liu Xiang's heart, speaking with achievements is the most effective way to explain, and verbal explanations are like escaping reality, which is also an important reason why he did not explain until he retired!
Now that Liu Xiang has been retired for many years, his social media comment area has been reopened, and many people have gone to Liu Xiang's comment area to apologize to him. When he saw this situation, Liu Xiang also responded in an interview with the media, "Friends have also sent me, and the Internet has said that they owe me an apology." In fact, people don't have to apologize to me, it's possible that I said it when I was younger. I think I understand, it's really nothing. ”
In the final part of the interview, Liu Xiang was also completely relieved, "With the passage of time, everyone will find one thing, in fact, athletes are quite real." I'm just a normal person, just maybe I used to run faster. When Liu Xiang gave such a response, this farce that had lasted for many years was finally over!