China's Liu Xiang to seek advice on injury in US
29/10/2008 17:30
Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang will leave today for the United States to seek
advice on the Achilles injury that ripped him off the chance to defend his
110-meter hurdles title at the Beijing Olympics in August.
The 25-year-old
Athens gold medallist will meet five medical experts in three cities, China
Youth Daily reported today.
"Many think that Liu's arrival is seeking a good
cure, but truth is that we want the experts to take a look at Liu's foot and
hear from them on the injury," Feng Shuyong, one of the top officials with
China's athletics authorities, was quoted by the newspaper as saying
today.
"We are trying the Chinese traditional and western medicine both and
it is working pretty well now," said Feng. "We want to know whether the foreign
experts make the same diagnose and offer the similar treatment on
Liu."
"After the trip, Liu will consult the Chinese doctors and weigh up all
the options to see whether we need to improve the cure."
Liu was a strong
favourite to win a gold medal in 110m hurdles at the August Games, but withdrew
after pulling up limp at the start of his first heat.
Since the Olympic woes,
Liu has only opened two of his training sessions to the public in order to shun
the limelight that could interfere with his recovery.
According to Liu's
coach Sun Haiping, the Shanghai native has come back well but needs more work to
get to where he was before the Beijing Games.
"Rest without any
rehabilitation training is absolutely not working, which could rule him out of
tighter training and competition. So we also hope the experts could provide some
useful advice on the rehabilitative training," Sun told China Youth
Daily.
"Now, Liu is able to jog in light training," the coach
added.
Earlier, some experts suggested Liu return next June and the two stops
of the IAAF Grand Prix series in the United States could lead him up to the
world championships next August.
"It is not all the Achilles' heel that
matters," Sun stressed, "it is also about the mindset thing. It's been around 70
days after the Olympic exit. Liu seems that he is doing fine with it, but in
fact the shadow of the setback which was cast on him is huge."
"The coach,
the family and his friends all talk to him and that helps. However, we know
about athletes and we will get him a psychologist if he needs."
Xinhua
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