Injured Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang is to undergo surgery in London within the next two days, the Chinese athletics team leader said yesterday.
"Liu's surgery is scheduled in these two days in Britain. It is very hard for him. After 2008, he suffered such a setback but he insisted on going on," Feng Shuyong said.
Du Zhaocai, vice chairman of the Chinese Athletics Association, said yesterday that the surgeon would probably be the same man who had operated on many famous athletes, including David Beckham.
Liu, the Olympic champion in Athens in 2004, exited the London Games after crashing into the first hurdle in his 110m heat on Tuesday, four years after he was forced to withdraw due to a tendon injury from his heat at the 2008 Beijing Games.
Feng said that when Liu was injured, a preliminary examination at the London venue indicated he might have snapped his Achilles tendon. After Liu was taken to hospital, an MRI scan confirmed that it really was a fracture of the tendon.
Feng said Liu's journey over the past four years since the Beijing Olympics had been hard to bear for many of his fans.
"It was the result no one wanted to see. But this is the regular pattern in competitive sports. It is risky. We always try our best to minimize the risk but it cannot be totally avoidable in the competitions," Feng said.
"Liu fights against injuries nearly every day. It is not easy for him. It is unbearable for everyone. We admire him deep in our hearts," he added.
"Since 2002, Liu has reached the top level in the world. In the past decade, there are few athletes having done what he has achieved. It is very hard for him," said Feng.
Du also expressed his admiration for Liu.
"He has been in three Olympics so far. He is a 29-year-old veteran, also a big name," said Du. "But he has to bear the loneliness of a life on the training ground. I admire him a lot for always staying in a calm mood over so many years."
Du said Liu had always been under huge pressure.
"In the past four years, he received treatment, recovered and gradually improved his competitive results to a very high level. It was very hard," Du said. "He has done what he can do with all his heart. He has shown us the spiritual value."
After his injury on Tuesday morning, Liu, the former world record holder, earned a rousing ovation from the 80,000 crowd as he hopped down the track to symbolically cross the finish line, kissing the last hurdle as he did so. Many fans saw the performance as Liu's farewell to his Olympic career.
Chinese Olympic committee spokesman Zhang Haifeng said Liu had been resting in the Olympic athletes village since the injury, and was in good spirits when he visited him on Tuesday.
"He's in pain but he's very brave and optimistic," he said. "He's in bed in the athletes village. I visited him yesterday and talked a little bit and gave him some greetings.
"It's really a sad thing but his spirit inspires young people very much," Zhang said.
