After Su Bingtian set a new Asian record in the 100-meter run with a score of 9.83, Liu Xiang also posted congratulations to him for the first time.
People have found that Liu Xiang's achievements were really difficult to break, and it was he who let the world know that Chinese can create miracles, and many people scolded him for 13 years because he retired from injury in 2008
Nowadays, more and more people have woken up and found that "we owe Liu Xiang an apology"
In fact, on November 21, 2020, Liu Xiang was a guest on the interview program and also talked about the topic of "owing Liu Xiang an apology".
In the program, Liu Xiang smiled generously and said:
"Some people may have said something when they were young, and I think everything is understood, nothing"
As soon as this word came out, "Liu Xiang said that no one was needed to apologize" immediately rushed to the hot search.
After being scolded for 13 years, Liu Xiang said that he did not need to apologize? Is he tolerant and generous? Or is there really something inside his retirement from the 2008 Olympic Games?
01
Liu Xiang was born in 1983 in Putuo District, Shanghai.
His father was a "third-term" young man who went to the countryside, and his mother was an ordinary employee of a local food store.
Perhaps because his father was once Zhiqing, at a very young age, Liu Xiang was forced by his parents to study.
However, when he was a child, Liu Xiang did not like to study. Rather than staying in the classroom and studying at home every day, Liu Xiang prefers to go out and play with friends.
Similarly, compared with the talent of learning, Liu Xiang's sports talent is more brilliant.
When other children were just beginning to learn to climb, Liu Xiang was already able to take a step and walk.
Because of Liu Xiang's outstanding athletic talent, the school's physical education teacher noticed him.
Under the persuasion of her teacher, Liu's mother began to let her son specialize in sports.
And Liu Xiang did not live up to the expectations of the teacher, just turned ten years old, he has the strength to represent the school to participate in athletics competitions.
In the race, Liu Xiang was concerned by Gu Baogang because he ran fast and grew tall enough.
As soon as the game was over, the loving coach ran to Liu Xiang's house many times to persuade Liu Xiang's father and mother to hand Liu Xiang over to him for training.
Under the bitter persuasion of Gu Baogang, Liu's father and mother Liu finally decided to send Liu Xiang to the sports hospital and hand him over to Gu Baogang's custody.
After arriving at the sports school, Gu Baogang re-planned the development route for Liu Xiang, allowing him to shift from athletics to high jump.
After only two months of training, Liu Xiang gave Gu Baogang a surprise, he won the championship in the school competition.
At this time, Fang Shuiquan also paid attention to Liu Xiang because of the championship.
Like Gu Baogang, he began to persuade Liu Xiang to change careers.
However, the direction of the two persuasions was inconsistent, Gu Baogang persuaded Liu Xiang to turn from athletics to high jump, and Fang Shuiquan advised Liu Xiang to turn from high jump to hurdles.
Under the persuasion of Fang Shuiquan's bitter mouth, Liu Xiang once again changed the direction of exercise and specialized in hurdles.
And Liu Xiang is also a sports genius, like the high jump, he quickly made achievements in the hurdles major.
After months of hurdle training, he once again created a surprise and returned with a municipal championship for the coach.
In 1999, 16-year-old Liu Xiang was successfully favored by hurdle coach Sun Haiping in a competition and began to go to the international stage.
In 2000, at the age of 20, Liu Xiang was entrusted with important duties and began to appear in international competitions.
In 2001, he participated in the "World University Games" competition, defeated his brother Chen Yanhao, and won his first world championship.
In 2002, he appeared at the IAAF Competition in Switzerland, breaking the Asian record in the men's 110m hurdles with a time of 13.12 seconds and breaking the best record held in the competition for 24 years.
Obviously, although these achievements are excellent, they are not worth mentioning in Liu Xiang's career.
What really made Liu Xiang famous in the sports world was liu Xiang's participation in the Athens Olympic Games in 2004.
In 2004, Liu Xiang, as the only yellow person on the track, represented China for the first time on the track of the world's top track and field track.
There is no doubt that this is extremely exciting news.
You know, due to body limitations, athletics sprinting projects have long been monopolized by European and American athletes.
China and even the whole of Asia have never had an athlete standing on the final track of an athletics sprint.
And Liu Xiang's station completely represents the rise of China's competitive sports.
He not only filled the gap in China's athletics short track project, but also filled the gap in the track and field short track project in Asia as a whole.
So when he walked alone to the starting line and stood on the fourth track, he had already made history.
Under the passionate continuous explanation of the on-site commentator, Liu Xiang, who has been patiently preparing on the track, also made a surprising move.
Before he was about to run, he stood up violently and tore off his clothes, revealing a Chinese red sweatshirt inside.
Among a group of dark-skinned Europeans and Americans, Liu Xiang, wearing a red sweatshirt, is particularly eye-catching.
There is no doubt that the eyes of nearly 80,000 spectators at the scene are fixed on Liu Xiang.
They also want to know whether Liu Xiang, as the first Asian boy ever to reach the final of the athletics sprint event in China and even Asia, will create a miracle at the Athens Olympics.
Before the start of this highly watched world-class race, Trammell from the United States also played psychological warfare.
In both starts, Trammell deliberately put pressure on the opposing runners by rushing the run.
But fortunately, Liu Xiang has always maintained a firm and peaceful state. No matter what the other party does, he has always been calm and rational.
The audience can only see from Liu Xiang's eyes before the start of the race that he has confidence in the inevitable victory of the championship and his determination to win the first place.
With the order of the referee, the eight runners on the starting line immediately rushed out. Liu Xiang started very smoothly and successfully pulled Down Trammell to the first place.
In the hurdles that followed, he pulled away from the second and third places at a "flying man" speed. Under Yang Jian's passionate explanation, Liu Xiang rushed to the finish line first with an unattainable speed.
In the 110-meter hurdles event at the Athens Olympic Games, the 21-year-old tied the world record with a good time of 12.91 seconds, winning the first championship in Chinese history, and the whole country cheered.
Looking back at Liu Xiang's amazing run at the Athens Olympic Games, everyone can still feel the unparalleled shock from his run.
On the runway, the audience can hear the referee's voice calling out to Liu Xiang from time to time.
In particular, when the referee said loudly: "Liu Xiang, Liu Xiang won, Liu Xiang won, Liu Xiang made history", the Chinese audience under the Olympic stage directly collapsed in tears.
At the end of the competition, when Liu Xiang jumped to the podium wearing a five-star red flag, the audience at the scene and in front of the TV set all rejoiced for him.
Even the 70-year-old trainers on the scene were so excited that they burst into tears.
In this way, this Shenzhou Flying Man challenged the Western world, and the East-West Flying Man War, which had not been encountered in a hundred years, finally ended with Liu Xiang's success.
After the game, when the media interviewed Liu Xiang's feelings about winning the championship:
He flashed bright and ignorant eyes, confident and bold: "Who said that yellow people can't, get the top eight in the Olympic Games, today must prove to everyone, I am the Olympic champion." ”
And he's right, he's the Olympic champion.
After this battle, Liu Xiang completely sealed the gods.
Liu Xiang, who had successfully sealed the gods, did not stop the pace of his conquest.
In 2006, Liu Xiang participated in the IAAF Super Grand Prix in Lausanne, Switzerland. On the track, he broke the world record for 13 years of immersion with a time of 12.88 seconds.
In 2007, at the age of 24, Liu Xiang won the World Championship again with a time of 12.95 seconds, becoming the only world champion in history to combine the Olympic championship, the world championship and the IAAF Grand Prix.
At the same time that Liu Xiang was praised by the public as "World Trapeze" and "Asian Miracle" for his excellent hurdles results, the public's expectations for Liu Xiang are also increasing.
During that time, Liu Xiang was directly mythologized. In people's eyes, no one can prevent Liu Xiang from winning the championship, Liu Xiang is a miracle.
Perhaps because of such a crazy deification, the public simply could not accept Liu Xiang's escape from the battlefield.
Therefore, when Liu Xiang withdrew from the race in 2008 and 2012, he was directly scolded by the angry audience as "Liu Running". This scolding is 13 years.
In these thirteen years, Liu Xiang has endured a lot of harsh criticism from the "altar" to the "abyss", from "creating miracles" to "cowardly Liu Running".
It wasn't until 2021, when times changed and perceptions changed, that the public realized for the first time that they seemed to owe Liu Xiang an apology.
So in the past 13 years, what has happened to Liu Xiang, and what have the people done, will they be so sorry for Liu Xiang?
03
At 11:50 a.m. on August 18, 2008, an anticipated match was about to begin.
Before that, many of Liu Xiang's fans even spent a lot of money to buy 80,000 tickets in order to watch Liu Xiang's game up close.
But everyone did not expect that near the beginning of the game, the news of Liu Xiang's withdrawal came out.
It turned out that as early as 2008, after Liu Xiang participated in the qualifiers, he made the decision to withdraw from the tournament.
For a time, the public was angry.
Everyone really doesn't understand why Liu Xiang suddenly escaped at the Olympic Games held by China itself?
As public anger rose, Liu Xiang's coach, Sun Haiping, finally decided to stand up and apologize.
The coach stood in front of the interview machine and struggled for half a day to start with a sentence of "there is really no way", explaining that the reason for Liu Xiang's withdrawal was because of heel pain.
Although the reasons were sufficient, at that time, the public did not accept Liu Xiang's explanation. Countless fans who like Liu Xiang cried bitterly offstage, telling their disappointment in Liu Xiang.
In addition to fans, the media has also begun to smear Liu Xiang. Liu Xiang was accused of escaping because he usually only cared about endorsements and neglected to practice.
But no matter how the public blamed it, Liu Xiang at that time did not have time to explain to the audience.
Because on the night of the day of his retirement on August 18, Liu Xiang went to the hospital to check his heels. After many consultations, the cause of Liu Xiang's foot pain was finally discovered, and the Achilles tendon of his foot was injured.
Also because of the Achilles tendon injury, Liu Xiang can no longer carry out any high-intensity training. In desperation, he followed the advice of experts and went to Houston, USA, for Achilles tendon recovery surgery.
This is a year.
In 2009, Liu Xiang, who recovered successfully after surgery, returned to China. In order to wash away the shame of the withdrawal from the 2008 Olympic Games, she resolutely signed up for the London Olympic Games in 2012.
In order to get back to the top, he even changed the way he started and re-planned his training tactics.
Looking at Liu Xiang's serious training, everyone has no doubt that Liu Xiang will once again create a miracle at the London Olympic Games.
In 2012, the London Olympics will be held soon.
This was originally a great opportunity for Liu Xiang to return after the king and prove his strength. But who knows, he had an accident.
In the Diamond League in London, Liu Xiang participated in the qualifiers and won the first place in the league. But after taking the first place, Liu Xiang quickly withdrew from the competition.
The news of Liu Xiang's retirement was shocking, and the media began to ask his coach Sun Haiping why.
The explanation given by coach Sun Haiping is: "The main purpose of our coming is not for this competition, but actually for the Olympic Games to train troops." So later it was decided not to run on the second lap. ”
But in fact, the reason for Liu Xiang's withdrawal from the game is not only the reason said by the coach, but also related to his injured Achilles tendon, and his injury has recurred again.
By this time, Liu Xiang had realized that his Olympic journey could be a failure. But the expectations of the people of the whole country were too great for him to give up.
In the end, Liu Xiang still decided to endure the pain of the Achilles tendon.
On August 7, 2012, the London Olympic Games officially began.
As Liu Xiang and the runners waited together at the starting line to prepare for the start, he suddenly showed a strange smile to the camera.
This smile was not as warm as his other smiles, on the contrary, this smile gave a sense of helpless bitterness.
Next, the referee gave an order, and the runners rushed out and ran forward.
Unexpectedly, not long after Liu Xiang ran out and was preparing to cross the first hurdle, he failed and fell.
When Liu Xiang fell, the audience could even hear the narrator's heavy "Oops" sound.
After that, Liu Xiang was briefly stunned on the track, his eyes were confused, helpless, and even a little sad.
Suddenly, confused, Liu Xiang knelt down in front of the audience. Just a few seconds later, he left the arena again and returned to the entrance.
Originally, the audience thought that Liu Xiang had just left, but who knows, Liu Xiang unexpectedly returned to the arena.
Step by step, he walked to the hurdles in the field and gently kissed the hurdles for a few seconds.
Then he bypassed the hurdles again and ran on one foot to the finish line.
Seeing this scene, the Olympic arena suddenly fell silent.
Especially on the runway, everyone spoke, and everyone watched very quietly as Liu Xiang jumped to the end.
Obviously, Liu Xiang was reluctant to leave the track.
But there was no way, forced by the damage to the Achilles tendon, he could only leave the arena where he had struggled for more than ten years, and leave the competitive sports that had made him a god.
Undoubtedly, such a Liu Xiang is worthy of heartache and comfort.
But in that environment at that time, the people never pitied Liu Xiang. Even in many cases, the people's words are a vicious arrow, which shoots straight into Liu Xiang's heart.
Because of Liu Xiang's two withdrawals, the public has a bad sense of it, and it is determined that Liu Xiang withdrew because he is too famous and profitable.
Some media criticized: "Liu Xiang is a coward, and he withdrew from the competition to make money in the entertainment industry."
There are also many people who say: "It's a fake fall, for money"
At that time, there were too many people who mocked Liu Xiang, and they opened their mouths and talked about gold medals. I have to say that, to some extent, they do stand and talk without waist pain.
You know, an Achilles tendon injury is not a small wound on the foot, it is very serious.
At that time, if Liu Xiang did not retire in time, then his foot could be wasted.
Does everyone want Liu Xiang to take the Olympic championship at the price of a pair of feet?
Not to mention that he was still injured, and it was even more impossible for him to run past others.
You know, the spirit of the Olympic Games is not about comparison and competition.
Its real purpose is "to contribute to the building of a peaceful and better world by educating young people through sporting activities without discrimination and in the Olympic spirit — mutual understanding in the spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play". ”
On April 17, 2015, Liu Xiang announced his retirement, saying goodbye to his 12-year career: "To make this decision, although it is not willing, although painful, I have no choice. ”
04
Looking back on Liu Xiang's career, he participated in a total of 48 world competitions, and the record was 36 gold, 6 silver and 3 bronze.
What is this concept?
He won 75 percent of the World Series, winning three of every four games he played. The probability of winning the top three is 93.75 percent.
Except for two withdrawals, only one did not reach the top three.
As an audience, we are not qualified to evaluate such an excellent Liu Xiang. After all, we ourselves are not as good as him.
On September 16, 2016, Liu Xiang blew himself up and was married to Wu Sha, who is also an athlete.
After retiring from the army, he almost faded out of the public's career and lived an ordinary life, he did not have a job in the past 5 years, and the husband and wife were either doing public welfare, or traveling everywhere, photography.
Liu Xiang was finally able to let go of the pressure of his idol and be himself.
Some people say: There is no Liu Xiang after Liu Xiang, and the glory of Chinese athletics is what Liu Xiang fought for.
Today, people understand: "We owe Liu Xiang an apology." ”
When people want to apologize to Liu Xiang, he has already let go and responded: "I don't need to apologize, I have never complained about anyone"
His generous mind is indeed admirable, and the "Asian Trapeze" deserves it!