Wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap which hid half of his face, Chinese Olympic champion Liu Xiang arrived in Yichun City of East China's Jiangxi Province for a national track event early Friday morning.

The champion had to wrap himself thick and tight when appearing in Yichun and escape his fans and the media from the railway station under thick guard of police.

Liu, 21, has become a favorite athlete in Chinese after winning the 110m hurdles gold medal with a world record-equaling time of 12.91 seconds in the Athens Olympic Games in August.

He became the first Chinese athlete to take Olympic gold in the short-distance race, which used to be dominated by Americans and Europeans.

For nearly a month after the Olympics, the Shanghai native and his coach Sun Haiping were too busy attending all kinds of social activities to resume training.

For the track hero, a normal training condition and a life without disturbing is not only a gift, but also a necessity to ensure that his way in the btrack and field goes longer and farther.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua on Saturday, Sun appealed to the society to give Liu more time and room for him to have training.

"I thought 'Liu Xiang fever' would be a temporary phenomenon," Sun said. "But the temperature of the fever becomes higher and higher."

The mild coach has refused all social activities which may affect Liu's training only in an attempt to save him from the danger of being "destroyed."

"Besides training, Liu should spend all his time relaxing and resuming his energy," Sun said, noting training is the most important.

During his free time in Yichun, Liu had to stay in the Five Circles Hotel, which was heavily watched by police. He dare not go out for shoping or visiting the city, he said, noting he did so only to avoid possible troubles caused by his fans and the media.

"To Liu Xiang, being focused upon is not a pride, but a burden," Sun said.

On Saturday afternoon, hundreds of Yichun citizens rushed to the sports center to watch Liu's performance despite the heavy rain.

To everyone's expectation, he finished first in the men's 110m hurdles finals.

However, he only clocked a modest time of 13.59 seconds, much slower than that of the mark he ran in the Athens Olympics.

His time of 12.91 seconds in the Athens Olympics equalled the mark set by Briton Colin Jackson at the 1993 world championships in Stuttgart.

Speaking at a news conference after the event, Sun said Liu did not bring himself into play in the race, noting this is the first outdoor event after the Athen Olympics.

Liu told the press that he did not do his best in the race, adding he aims to run at around 13.10 seconds in the forthcoming national track and field grand prix.

"Only by turning the pressure to impetus can I compete with the top hurdlers in the world," Liu said, adding he will do his best to run in the IAAF Golden League and the world track and field grand prix to be held this year.