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Olympic champ turns out to be reluctant celebrity
(China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-21 05:59
NANJING, Jiangsu: The crowd's deafening cheers at the Nanjing Olympic Stadium
reached its peak when Liu Xiang, the 110m hurdles Olympic gold medallist,
stepped onto the track here to compete at the 10th National Games. The young
Olympic hero enjoyed an overwhelming welcome in Nanjing from his fans both on
and off the track which he said exhausted him even more than the competition.
 "The only way that we could avoid the distraction from the fans was to
hide ourselves as much as possible from the public," said Sun Haiping, Liu's
coach. "We don't want to treat his fans coldly, but the frequent disturbances
have affected our regular training, which is a big headache for Liu."
After arriving in Nanjing on October 11, one day before the opening ceremony
of the Games, Liu's tracks were constantly traced by his fans and media, forcing
the young hurdler to change his hotel and training sites many times.
Although guarded by the security staff of the hotel closely and secretly
wherever he goes, the 22-year-old Shanghai native, who equalled the world record
to win the Olympic gold medal last year, is still being distracted by people all
around him. And as flattering as it is to have admirers, Liu admitted it can be
a distraction from fully focusing on his job: to train hard and win.
"To be frank, the people who bothered me are not the media and fans but the
people who could reach me easily," said Liu, who was even awakened from sleeping
at noon for signatures. "I always feel nervous when hearing the knock on the
door in the hotel."
The zealous pursuits from the fans is something that is perplexing to Liu,
especially now that he has to do everything under the magnifying glass of the
curious public.
"I always feel sorry for my fans since I can't satisfy them all, but I beg my
fans to understand me as well," Liu said.
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