Olympics: Liu Xiang looks to put Beijing pain behind him
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LONDON (AFP) - Chinese athletics icon Liu Xiang is determined to erase memories of his traumatic experience at the Beijing Games and regain his 110m hurdles Olympic title in London.
He will be looking to throw down the gauntlet to his major rivals - world record holder and defending champion Dayron Robles, and the leader in the event this season Aries Merritt when the heats get underway on Tuesday.
Four years ago, the 29-year-old left Chinese fans devastated when he turned up for his heat but failed to jump a hurdle, pulling out because of an Achilles problem and has continued to be plagued by injuries ever since.
He has shown some of his old form, though, and was desperately unlucky not to win the world title last year, being hindered twice by Robles's trailing arm, which led to the Cuban being disqualified from gold with Liu being bumped up to silver.
