China's 110m hurdles world and Olympic champion Liu Xiang is looking forward to a showdown with Dayron Robles at the Beijing Olympic Games in August.

The Cuban teenager broke Liu's world record on Thursday.

"During the Beijing Games, we both will be going all out to win. Let's wait and see," Liu said.

Robles shaved a hundredth of a second off the record Liu had held for two years with his run of 12.87 seconds at the IAAF Grand Prix meeting in the Czech Republic.

Robles win confirms he will be the main rival of Liu for gold at the Games.

But Liu said Robles win does not worry him.

"It's not a surprising result for me. I believed he would one day break my record. It was just a matter of time.

"So I do not think it will affect my preparation or inflict pressure on me. Both of us have the ability to set a new record," he said.

Liu's coach Sun Haiping believes Robles' record will provide added motivation for Liu.

"Certainly it is motivation for Liu and me," Sun said.

"Sport is competition. Liu led in the past but now Robles has the advantage. Therefore, we must improve ourselves again."

Liu, 24, tied Colin Jackson's world mark of 12.91 seconds when he won gold in Athens and claimed the record for himself in Lausanne two years later.

The 21-year-old Robles has been in sparkling form this year, particularly during the indoor season when he set six of the seven fastest times over 60 m.

Liu's preparations for Beijing have been disrupted by a hamstring problem and a disqualification, which kept him out of the last two major races he planned to run before the Games.

Sun said the new mark would not change Liu's preparation for his Olympic title defence.

"I will not make any big changes to our training schedule. There is not much time left," Sun said. "We haven't lost our confidence. Lots of things can affect a race and Liu has not lost his confidence because of a new record."

Agencies/China Daily

(China Daily 06/14/2008 page12)