Chinese officials have expressed concern that the media furore surrounding world record hurdler Liu Xiang could harm his career, state media reported on Thursday.
They quoted athletics official Yu Weili as calling for more privacy for Liu, who set a new world record in the 110m hurdles with a time of 12,88 seconds in Lausanne on Tuesday.
”Liu Xiang cannot escape the fans and the continuous media coverage,” Yu, the deputy head coach of China’s track and field team, told Xinhua news agency.
He predicted that ”a new wave of Liu frenzy would sweep across China”, threatening to affect his training.
Liu was anointed the ”Chinese Beckham” after he became the country’s first male athlete to win an Olympic sprint gold, tying Colin Jackson’s world-best mark of 12,91 seconds in the final at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
But his performances immediately slumped amid a dizzying array of commercial engagements, which he blamed for not going under 13,05 seconds in 2005.
”Liu Xiang had to handle endless commercial and social activities … and these disturbances put him in a unfavorable position whenever a race happened in China,” said Yu.
He said Liu was mobbed by reporters and photographers wherever he went, severely affecting his training regimen.
”How could you expect Liu Xiang to leave himself any room to rest, to train and to win?”
But the appeal is likely to fall on deaf ears as China celebrates the achievement of Liu, who turned 23 on Thursday and has bolstered local hopes for the upcoming Beijing Olympics.
”What Liu has accomplished may stimulate those from national teams to work even harder for better performance at the Olympics,” the state-run China Daily newspaper said in an editorial.
”From this perspective, his world record is also a gift to the Beijing Olympic Games.”
A statement from China’s track and field association hailed Liu’s result as ”an extremely huge encouragement and inspiration to our nation’s athletes as they prepare for the 2008 Beijing Olympics”.
However, there was only a terse comment from high-jumper Zhu Jianhua, who was previously the country’s biggest name in track and field.
”If I have to say something, I would say ‘congratulations to Liu Xiang’. That’s it,” said Zhu, according to Xinhua. – Sapa-AFP