Hurdler Liu enjoys special privileges at university

China's 110m-hurdles world and Olympic champion Liu Xiang can take his time finishing his postgraduate and doctoral programs of study at the School of Sports and Health Care (SSHC) at East China Normal University, according to an official from SSHC.

"He is a special student," said Li Xiaoying, vice-president of SSHC. "The successive postgraduate and doctoral programs of study will usually take six years, but the time is not a problem for Liu as long as he can finish and pass all the courses."

Liu, also the world record holder in the sport, was admitted to the Shanghai-based university three yeas ago without having to provide any academic credentials and has received face-to-face lessons from notable professionals during his trainings at the Shanghai Xinzhuang training base.

"We know Liu has to spend most of his time in the training base. So we will send his teachers there to give him lessons individually," Li added.

Liu Xiang's tutor is the president of SSHC, Ji Liu, who is also an expert in the Psychology of Sports. Li said Ji's instructions will benefit Liu's career.

But Ji said Liu does not have to compete in the University Games, the school's annual sporting event, joking that Liu's record may only be broken after a century.

"We welcome him to come to the Games and encourage his schoolmates. But I am afraid he cannot compete here," said Ji during the opening ceremony of the Games on Tuesday, where Liu and his head coach Sun Haiping were also present.

"If Liu takes part in the sport, his record may be kept for 1,000 years," said a smiling Ji.

Big insurance policy

Apart from attending the opening ceremony of the University's Games, on Monday Liu also received a 100-million-yuan ($13.37 million) insurance policy against accidental injury from a domestic insurance company.

The company also became the official insurer of China's national track and field team, and offered a 100-million-yuan policy to the whole team.

"It's life insurance for Liu and also, thanks to Liu's influence, it's a good safeguard for the whole team," said Wang Dawei, in charge of the commercial development for the China Athletics Administrative Center. "It's a win-win result for athletes and also the company."

Coach Sun in July said he was looking for an insurer to cover the hurdlers' legs after two Chinese athletes were severely injured.

With no specific policies to cover body parts in China, Liu finally had to choose a regular policy. But as an athlete, his policy is much more expensive than normal since athletes lead riskier lives.

Wang Yan, for example, a 15-year-old gymnast, broke her neck after a fall from the uneven bars at the National Championships in Shanghai on June 10 and is still in hospital undergoing recovery.

Tang Miao, a key member of the men's national volleyball team, also suffered a broken neck during warm-up exercises prior to a friendly match in Russia in mid-June and is still in danger of partial paralysis.

China Daily

(China Daily 11/01/2007 page22)