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Liu Xiang (simplified Chinese: 刘翔; traditional Chinese: 劉翔; pinyin: Liú Xiáng; born July 13, 1983 in Putuo, Shanghai, China) is a Chinese 110 metre hurdler. Liu is an Olympic Gold medalist and World Champion. His 2004 Olympic gold medal was the first in a men’s track and field event for China, in which the previous best were held by Olympic silver medallist C.K. Yang of the Republic of China and Olympic bronze medalist Zhu Jianhua. Contrary to popular belief however, Liu Xiang’s Olympic track and field gold medal is not the first won by an Asian male athlete, as Olympic gold medalist Mikio Oda, Naoto Tajima, Son Kitei and others were the forerunners of Asian male track and field athletes achieving gold in the Olympic Games.
Liu is one of China’s most commercially successful athletes and has emerged as a cultural icon. He is the first Chinese athlete to achieve the “triple crown” of athletics: World Record Holder, World Champion and Olympic Champion. That he would win another gold in the 110 metre hurdles at the Beijing Olympics was “China’s great hope”, but he had to withdraw from competition at the last moment after a false start and aggravation to a previously unrevealed injury.
