World and Olympic champion Liu Xiang shocked the sporting world when he stumbled at the start of his qualifying heat of the Men’s 110m Hurdles and withdrew from the competition. Watched by thousands in his native China, Liu stumbled at the starting blocks.
The 25-year-old had been suffering from an inflamed Achilles tendon, and at a press conference following the withdrawal, his coach confirmed that the incident was as a result of an injury to his right take-off foot, which has been affecting him for about six years.
The Chinese star’s showdown with Dayron Robles, the Cuban who took away his world record earlier this summer, was one of the most eagerly-anticipated events of the Games. Liu had shown extreme discomfort in the warm-ups and had fallen in a practice run.
Liu became a world champion last year when he took first place in Japan, with a time of 12.95 seconds, but has yet to break 13 seconds this year or even turn in a top 10 performance.
In other news, 21-year-old took Usain Bolt of Jamaica became the fastest man in the world when he won the Men’s 100m race with a world-record-breaking 9.89 seconds. The six-foot-five sprinter had lowered the world record to 9.72 seconds in June 2008, when he became the first athlete to break 9.7 seconds without the assistance of a tailwind. In the heat, Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago took silver with Walter Dix of the USA winning bronze.
Hailing from Trelawny, Jamaica, Bolt was running alongside five other runners from the Carribean. The record-making man could have shaved even more seconds off his time, but glancing back, he saw he was easily the winner and couldn’t resist the opportunity to begin a premature celebration, banging his chest and waving his arms as he crossed the finish line. He later told reporters that he was competing in the Olympics to have fun, and that’s just what he did.
Canada’s Donovan Bailey, the Jamaican-born sprinter whose Olympic record of 9.84, set at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, stood for 12 years before being broken at the 2008 Games, predicted that the world will see more from Usain Bolt, possibly setting a record as low as 9.55.
Later in the week, Bolt amazed everyone when he competed in the 200m and broke the world and Olympic records with a time of 19.30, giving himself an incredible 22nd birthday gift.
American Michael Phelps continued his medal-winning streak by taking his eighth gold, winning the Men’s 4x100 medley relay in the swimming competitions. The Baltimore-based 23-year-old has also established seven world records at the Beijing Games. At six-feet-four and size 14 shoes, we’re sure to see more of this swimming phenom in the future.
