Shanghaiist: Shocker: Liu Xiang pulls out of Beijing Olympics

NannyState

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 02:55:31 +0800

"China just wind-up robots whose cowardice in the face of absolute defeat is simply pathetic. Not to mention the fact that so many of them lack soul, grace and passion." That is so untrue and such a hideous stereotype. I've seen real passion and soul from these chinese athletes, both in winning and in defeat. They are on their home turf and they are all expected to be heroes. That's a lot of incredible pressure and I'm amazed at the athletes that have handled it so well and I've seen the real pain from those that fell short of the mark. They are all terrific.

booggerg

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:46:34 +0800

blicket: wow I didn't know that.. that really puts things into perspective. Thanks!

shanghaimike

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:02:46 +0800

Dextrum..... you have hit the nail on the head. It's time these other plonkers here woke up and understood the reality of China!

blicket

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:14:30 +0800

for the naive (looking at you nanheyangrouchuan) Nadia Comaneci was 13 when she won european championships. Not long ago in barcelona 92, Kerri Strug who took bronze was only 14. The age limit was only recently raised in olympics. this whole thing smacks of being poor losers.

blicket

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:57:15 +0800

'mainstream' sports meaning? if that even matters. i wouldn't consider any of these olympic sports being mainstream besides basketball and maybe cycling. I'm curious to find out what from your feeble mind what is mainstream? soccer btw in the US is a joke, far from mainstream considered queer and will probably never catch on. it's boring and lame. You also should check the what chinese medalled in before opening your pie hole. I wouldn't call gymnastics (including trampoline) feel good events. try telling that to Mary Lou Retton, Shannon Miller, and the us mens and women's gymnastic teams...you joker.

nanheyangrouchuan

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:52:57 +0800

Horse riding would be considered a classical sport because warriors had to demonstrate horse riding skills. I believe chariot races were part of the original Greek games, wouldn't be surprised if there were a few other horse events as well. As for trampoline? Probably a feel good move for countries that suck in mainstream sports (like China).

blicket

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:52:10 +0800

@nanheyangrouchuan and now you have problems with their non-privatized agents? so what's the problem? not everything is black and white in this world nanheyangrouchuan...just because US athlete have 'normal' agents? do you have any idea how much US agents, laywers, pr-marketing collect, not to mention taxes? i don't think so. These guys make out hand over fist if not more so.

booggerg

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:12:17 +0800

Forget about Liu Xian for a second.. the larger concern is why is a stupid activity like horse riding is a medal sport in the Olympics? Or better yet, why the hell is Trampoline in the Olympics?

nanheyangrouchuan

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:32:05 +0800

@ blicket Liu Xiang races with the permission of the CCPee and collects royalties with more permission. @ Dextrum If the IOC won't come down on China for having multiple 13 year olds on the gymnastics team or a boxing incident in which a Chinese fighter spend 2 1/2 rounds running from his opponent, 1/2 of the last round locking up and the Chinese fighter still won, then they certainly won't "upset" China by banning Liu Xiang from a face saving whoopin' at the hands of the American or Jamaican blacks.

blicket

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 05:56:14 +0800

What Michael Phelps did is simply amazing. He deserves all the attention and coverage from NBC. Olympics comes around only once every four years. His name may not surface for a while after all this. puhlease..not all Chinese athletes are gov't manufactured wind-up bots. plus who needs the government when they have getting millions a year in endorsements as motivation. This not much different from American athletes.

daveparker

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:47:11 +0800

nbc is covering phelps cause he won 8 medals. cctv is covering liu cause he didnt win 1.

Angella

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:50:47 +0800

NBC devoted half of its time showing the face of Michael Phelps. That is quite sick. Disgusting media, it can make a nice face ugly.

Angella

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:46:47 +0800

Fortunately, China is a more tolerant society now. Besides, China has gotten enough gold so far, nearly double the US’s. We don’t depend on Liu to get this extra one. After all, his health is much more important than anything else. He will have the chance to regain glory in four years if his injure could be healed.

Dextrum

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:43:48 +0800

This was a rigged withdrawal of Liu Xiang. Facts 1. Filmed training day before at speed with no evidence of injury 2. Chinese Athletic Association placed pressure on Liu Xiang to withdraw for purely financial reasons. It receives by law 15% of Liu Xiang's sponsorship endorsements. It knew full well had Liu Xiang raced and lost or not made final, sponsorship monies and advertising contracts would have dried up. It therefore persuaded Liu Xiang to withdraw. That way Liu Xiang remained an undefeated champion and with this still attractive to advertisers. 3. The pressconference was held within 5 mins of his withdrwal clearly pre-arranged with Beijing olympic officials and his coach had all the answers rehearsed. IOC should investigate and ban him if he withdrew Knowing that he was not in form and to run and lose would fall foul of fickle corporate sponsors sponsorship interests.Perhaps Chinese athletic association pressured him to do so to protect their financial interests. Either way the truth will out.

Bumix

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:12:24 +0800

I am pretty sure that's not the same guy Sun Haiping in both those interviews on Youtube, or the grief made him miraculously grow a lot of hair in one day!

nanheyangrouchuan

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:37:48 +0800

@ T Trammell won't be cursed by the fen qing masses on the US internet or be questioned by the authorities for not contributing to Chinese glory.

T

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:53:23 +0800

uh, lamb boy - you know that Terrance Trammell (same event, only American) also had an injury and pulled up during the race as well? These guys are athletes, not living and breathing embodiment of their countries. Liu and Yao play for China because they want to. Trammell runs for the US because he wants to. But they also want to do well for themselves. puhlease - I'm not sure you're correct. Li Ning, Lang Ping, Liu, Yao, Lin Dan, Chen Jianhua, Zhang Ruirui (amongst others) have all demonstrated soul, creativity, passion and drive. Sure the gymnasts are sometimes a little wooden, but to dismiss them as souless robots is making an Cold War argument - which wasn't even true 30 years ago. Look at the anguish when Zhu Jianhua misses his final jump in LA. How about enjoying the athletic competion?

hotshotdebut

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:17:08 +0800

Personal attacks here are just so lame.

eastman

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:16:01 +0800

To puhlease, "USA creates heroes, while CHina bla bla..."? LOL! I only hope the topless Rambo will not be the last hero you produced. Well before the Olympic, most of Americans knew what Phelps meant to them and to the billboard. Some of idiot like you just treat any gold as a defeat of "Commie". But sorry, you America just got less this time while going down down down. Liu Xiang means only one gold while Phelps means eight. So count with your fingers to see how your folks would feel without him. (But I repsect him as a businessman) But who give a damn to this Olympic. Let's look forward to the closing ceremony when hijacked China will be set free), OK? Here is a must-see piece for your health and mental intact. Enjoy it when it is still there. Do you US government is deleting thousands clips on Utube, of course they called it porno control, to prevent your type from seeing, lol! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8XI2Chc6uQ

EL JEFE

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:07:57 +0800

Hopefully he just has a bye into the finals

Michael Darragh

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:38:11 +0800

Liu Xiang has no association with adidas and has certainly never featured in their advertising.

puhlease

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:25:37 +0800

@eastman Considering that not many Americans knew who Phelps was before the Games, yep it's easy to do. The difference is, USA creates heroes, China just wind-up robots whose cowardice in the face of absolute defeat is simply pathetic. Not to mention the fact that so many of them lack soul, grace and passion.

China-Matt

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:24:16 +0800

It's a bit disappointing. Would've been a great race between Liu and Robles. Guess I'll go back to ignoring the Olympics as usual.

eastman

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:05:03 +0800

No big deal. China team can go without Liu Xiang. But can you imagine a US team without Phelps?

Chinkerfly

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:00:36 +0800

Oh... snap! that was a good comeback @Titro Going to have to agree with you on that one. But what can NBC do, USA is not exactly kicking ass and taking names in any of the other events. :)

Titro

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:47:31 +0800

NBC is covering Michael Phelps's story as if Obama and McCain just get married...

bk gunner

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:46:15 +0800

That version of "You and Me" sounded like a dirge. I was wondering if he passed away after retiring from the race while watching the montage.

icecat77

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:11:41 +0800

I'm sorry for Mr. Liu's injury, but CCTV is covering this story as if Wen Jiabao just passed away...

nanheyangrouchuan

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:08:04 +0800

China destroys its athletes for the glory of the motherf***erland, the CCPee and the PLgay. Yao Ming is playing on several broken bones and torn ligaments in his foot and ankle for China which will shorten his NBA career and the well being of his entire family but no matter, as long as that big pile of shit known as the PRC can bask in master race glory. Liu Xiang can come over to the US and once we get him fixed up he'll win a few more championships as a healthy, happy American.