Hurdler Liu Xiang hopes to return to track next June
26/9/2008 18:05
Injuried Liu Xiang, the most famed Chinese track star, hoped to return to
the world sports arena next June, by starting training in kneeling
position.
"If everything goes all right, Liu will back to the competition
track next June," said his coach Sun Haiping at Liu's personal website, "He's
already recovered 80 percent and even tried to clear some hurdles on Tuesday
when seeing his women peers training."
"After a steady recovery, Liu is still
capable of running to 12.88 or 12.87 seconds," said Sun with confidence.
At
the Beijing Olympics, Liu's archrival Cuban Dayron Robles, 21, won the men's
110m hurdles title in 12.93 seconds, the second fastest time in Olympic history
but 0.06 seconds slower than his own world record of 12.87 set in June.
On
August 18 in the Bird Nest national stadium, Liu, the former world record
holder, pulled out of the Olympics in his 110m hurdles with an aggravated
Achilles tendon injury.
During a training session on Wednesday, open to the
media for the first time, Liu held onto a steel handrail, streched out his left
leg, with a thick sponge cushion under his right knee, in a kneeling
position.
"It's more challenging in kneeling than in standing," said coach
Sun, holding Liu's right knee and the cushion with sweat beads soaking through
their T-shirts of both hurdler Liu and his coach in less than 10
minutes.
"Only three days after August 18, we already started training, of
course in a minor recovery manner," Sun said, adding that Liu nowadays trained
in either kneeling or sitting positions instead of standing.
"I'm
recovering," said the 25-year-old Liu who won the gold in the Athens Olympics in
12.91 seconds and went on to break the world record in 2007 in a time of 12.88,
"But I couldn't run fast now and I don't want to hasten to return to
action."
For his chronic injury, the final treatment plan has not yet been
made, and Liu is scheduled to be monitored separately by doctors in Beijing and
the United States next month.
Coach Sun said he was more open to a
conservative treatment as an operation might cause ever-lasting impairment to
the tendon, and "I am confident that Liu will recover 90 percent if he receives
a conservative treatment," said Sun.
Xinhua
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