China's Liu Xiang became the first Asian in history to win the men's 110m hurdles at the Olympic Games in Athens on Friday, Aug. 27, 2004. Liu clocked a world record-equaling time of 12.91 seconds for the gold. (Xinhua Photo)

A millionaire, a national hero, a lecturer, a singer, a would-be Ph.D. and even a likely movie star.

Liu Xiang has become, or been regarded as, everything but an athlete after winning the 110m hurdles gold medal with a world record-tying time of 12.91 seconds in the Athens Olympic Games in August.

The Shanghai native, China's first-ever male Olympic gold winner in track and field, was believed to have earn millions of U.S. dollars from endorsements of cars, motorcycles, tobaccos, clothes, mobile phones and soft drinks.

The 21-year-old was also invited to sing at pop stars' concerts, give lectures to high school students and fellow athletes and even shoot a movie. Although having never attended a class in a college, the Olympic champion was awarded a free entry in October to study for a doctor's degree by Shanghai's East China Normal University.

Liu and his coach Sun Haiping were so busy attending all kinds of social activities that they could spare no time to resume training. He was forced to pull out of the Golden League meeting in Berlin and the IAAF finals in Monaco in September.

"We received numerous calls everyday from all kinds of people," Sun said. "We could not go on like this. It will destroy Liu. Nearly a month after the Olympics Games, we decided not to attend any social things. Training is the most important."

Sun also poured some cool water on his protege, admonishing him that he would become "nothing" from "everything" without further victories from the track.

The coach brought Liu's feet back to the ground.

Liu admitted afterwards: "The victory in the Olympics has changed everything for me. But the Athens Olympics already belongs to the past. I need quiet conditions for training, looking forward to the Olympics to be held at home in four years' time. I'm going to keep myself calm."

The 1.88-meter-tall athlete finally ran his first meet after the Olympics, beating four-time world champion Allen Johnson of the United States with a modest time of 13.31 seconds at the Yokohama track and field meet on September 23.

The victory consolidated his status as the world's number one high hurdler and after that he wasted no time announcing that he will break Briton Colin Jackson's 11-year-old world record sooner or later.

"My goal is to set a new world record. I believe I have potential. I'm still 21 and you will peak at around 25," said Liu.

"I promise I will break the world record."

You have every reason to believe Liu can achieve this goal after a fabulous season in which he also won in Zagreb, Lille and Osaka leading to the Olympic Games.

When he stormed home in a packed Athens Olympic Stadium on the night of August 7, the whole world was shocked. A new chapter of history has been turned.

Liu's winning time could be regarded as better than that of Jackson as the wind was 0.3 in the Olympic final to the 0.5 when Jackson set it in the 1993 world championships.

"Liu Xiang is a hero, a super hero. He is the pride of China," said Luo Chaoyi, president of the Chinese Athletics Administration. China has won over 100 Olympic gold medals since 1984 but its male athletes had only got one medal from the Olympics' most popular sport. That was Zhu Jianhua's high jump bronze in the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

The year of 1998 was a turning point for Liu's career, when he attracted coach Sun Haiping's attention as a 15-year-old jumper.

Sun was a well known hurdles coach who had nurtured Asian champion Chen Yanhao and he believed a star was born at the first sight of Liu. He visited Liu's parents several times and finally persuaded them to let Liu run the 110m hurdles.

After only three years, Liu launched his career in style in the IAAF Grand Prix in Lausanne in 2001 by breaking the world youth and Asian record with a time of 13.12. And in the next two years leading to the Olympic Games, he had won titles at the Asian championships, the World University Games and the Asian Games.

But the first warning he sent to the world was his bronze-winning finish at the world indoor championships in Birmingham, England, last year.

He went on to capture the bronze in the world outdoor championships in Paris to record a surprise season in 2003.

In 2004, Liu came back stronger and more confident. He won the silver in the world indoor championships in Budapest in March.

Two months later, he proved the winner in a race against American great Allen Johnson in the IAAF Grand Prix in Osaka, Japan, where he clocked a new Asian record and world's season best time of 13.06 seconds.

He went on to win two races in Lille, France, on June 26 and Zagreb, Croatia, three days later. He put up an exciting show at the Golden Gala meet in Rome on July 3, when he and Johnson clocked an identical time of 13.11. Race officials had to examine a photo finish to declare Johnson the winner.

Liu did a better job of clearing the hurdles than Johnson, but Johnson's stronger start ended up making the difference.

The race boosted Liu's optimism for the Olympics, although Johnson bettered his season best by 0.01 second in Lausanne, Switzerland, on July 6. The world has put the Olympics a Johnson-Liu duel but surprisingly Johnson crashed out of the Games after falling at the ninth hurdle at round 2.

"My victory has proved that Asian athletes can run fast too," said Liu Xiang.

"This is a miracle, but I believe there will be a lot more miracles taking place in China."

Liu has said that he will compete at every leg of next year's IAAF Golden League and eye the jackpot of one million U.S. dollars.

"It's a new challenge for Liu Xiang," Yu Weili, deputy head coach of the Chinese athletics team said. "Liu is not a newcomer for the Golden League, but next year's event will be the first time that he enters all six stages."

Source: Xinhua