Doctors on call but no worries for Liu

China's Olympic hospital sees little these days of Liu Xiang, the world record 110m hurdler who will carry the aspirations of an entire nation on his shoulders at the Beijing Games.

"He hasn't been in lately, and that's a good thing. It means he's healthy," said Li Guoping, chief medical officer for China's Olympic Committee and director of the Beijing Sports Medicine Hospital.

A dozen Olympic athletes enter Professor Li's treatment rooms every day at the one-of-a-kind hospital built inside the vast training complex in southeastern Beijing, which is the base for 600 Chinese athletes preparing for the August 8-24 Games.

Many more undergo testing and examinations at the hospital where China's top sports medicine experts are available with state-of-the-art equipment at their disposal.

"Athletes at this level who are training over long periods of time, especially in the run up to the Olympics, are going to have medical problems. We have to cure the problem then help recovery, that's our job," said Li, 54, who has been the hospital's first director since it was established in 1999.

Liu, 23, the world and Olympic 110m hurdles champion, is working out at the national athletics training center a stone's throw from the hospital. But he is free from injury worries for now.

"The first thing that needs to be said about Liu is that his coach, Sun Haiping is extremely smart," said Li.

"He understands Liu Xiang and he understands the 110m hurdles. So his daily training schedules for Liu are brilliant and keep the champion free from injury."

The second thing that is remarkable about Liu is that, unlike most athletes, he has an entire medical backup team of 10 experts who rarely leave his side.

"They watch him every day. They help him warm up for training and afterwards help his recovery, with massage and stretching and such like."

For those athletes who do get sick or hurt, Li has boosted staff at his hospital from 100 to 150 in preparation for the Olympics and half of them are doctors trained in sports medicine.

Along with other medical staff from the hospital they will be playing a bigger part in Olympic preparations from now on, said Li.

"Our big job now is to go into the teams and mix with them a lot and ask questions," he said.

"What's up with Yao Ming (China's basketball star who plays for the Houston Rockets)? How's he doing? Is Liu Xiang okay? What are the divers up to? How are the gymnasts? Prevention is the big thing for us now," he said.

Sports medicine came late to China and for many years the nation has been playing catch-up with world leaders such as the US and Russia.

The former Soviet Union brought the first scientific sports medicine concepts to China in the 1950s when the two giants were close allies.

In the 1980s, China turned to Europe and the US for the latest technical and scientific breakthroughs, according to Li.

China still lags the leading nations in sports science, but it is quickly catching up, according to Li, who speaks fluent English and did some of his medical training in the US.

It also has a medical edge of its own in areas that advanced nations are keen to study.

Li said experts from the US and other countries visit his hospital every year to learn about Chinese traditional medicine and herbal remedies.

"These remedies have been handed down a thousand years and this is part of our strength," said Li. "Russia and the United states are studying from us in these areas."

AFP

(China Daily 02/21/2008 page23)