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Robles ties Liu's former world record

Saturday, 19th July 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

If you live in China, you can be forgiven for believing that Liu Xiang (刘翔) is assured to win the gold medal in the 110-meter hurdles at the Beijing Olympics. But Liu, whose name used to appear next to the words "world record holder" and "odds-on" favorite, is far from invincible. Cuba's Dayron Robles broke his record last month, running the race in 12.87 seconds in Ostrava, Czech Republic. And yesterday, Robles silenced any doubt that he is the real deal, clocking a 12.88 in an IAAF race in Paris. Americans Terrence Trammell and Antwon Hicks ran 13.19 and 13.27, respectively.



Chinese friends of mine, often prone to excessive humility when it comes to their nation's athletes, are still completely bullish on Liu. He will win, they say, because Robles and the others are scared of him. But it's hard to see why the current world record holder should be afraid of Liu, whose fastest time this year is a 13.18 (at the Good Luck Beijing Athletics China Open in May) and who skipped his next race due to a hamstring injury and double faulted at the one after that. No doubt he knows Liu is a great athlete and competitor, but you don't break the world record and then show up to the Olympics shaking in your spikes.

Liu says his hamstring is still not totally healthy, but the 25-year-old is playing the age card on Robles, according to Reuters: "I feel like he is born to be a hurdler," Liu said of his 21-year-old rival. "He is terrific. But I still believe I am able to beat him. After all, he is younger than me."

On the evening of Thursday, August 21, at National Stadium in Beijing, we'll get to find out if Liu is right.

Related:
Liu Xiang drops out of NY race
Liu Xiang's record broken
Liu Xiang grounded again

Tags: athletics, Dayron Robles, Liu Xiang, track and field

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