World Events

Stars

China

Basketball

Soccer

Tennis

N.America

Olympics

Sports stars' injuries put careers in jeopardy

By Lei Lei and Chen Xiangfen (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-07-01 07:23

SHANGHAI: The comeback date of hurdler Liu Xiang, one of the nation's biggest names in sports, remains unclear although he trained at Xinzhuang Training Base in the full glare of the public yesterday.

Liu Xiang clears a hurdle at a training base in Shanghai yesterday. His coach, Sun Haiping, said the hurdler is recovering well from his ankle injury but is not fully fit for the rigors of competition. Gao Erqiang

The surgical wound on Liu's right Achilles tendon has not completely healed and doctors have advised him to wait longer before training at full tilt.

"Liu had his latest physical check last Tuesday and after a discussion with health experts, we found that his recovery is going well up to now," said Chen Shiyi, Liu's doctor at Shanghai Huashan Hospital.

"But there are still some problems in the joint of his Achilles tendon and ankle bone, so we suggested that he wait a little longer until he can train at 100 percent," the doctor said.

The severe injury on Liu's right Achilles tendon forced the former Olympic champion to limp out of the Bird's Nest in the first round of the men's 110m hurdles at the Beijing Games in August last year.

During surgery in Texas last December, Liu had four small pieces of bone removed from the Achilles tendon in his right foot.

After three months of rehabilitation in Houston, he returned to his hometown of Shanghai in March to continue treatment and prepare for his comeback to the track.

According to his coach, Sun Haiping, Liu will undergo another physical check in the next two months and the date for his return to competition may be decided then.

Related readings:  Hurdler Liu Xiang is recovering  Liu Xiang's absence a blow to China's Worlds hopes  Liu Xiang's comeback still uncertain  Hurdler Liu to quake pupils  Follow me: Hurdler Liu to quake pupils

Sun was hoping that training with spiked shoes would get underway if his foot was completely healed by the latest medical checkup. Sun has said that Liu could possibly take part in a September competition in Shanghai.

"During his training, his injured right foot still felt a little bit painful, the result of which is in accordance with the medical examination. All our efforts are to secure Liu's safety and stop his injury from reoccuring, so we won't push him to go all out in training right now," said Sun. "If he gets injured again, his sports career will end."

During yesterday's public training, Liu went through several hurdle runs with a relaxed expression on his face under the watchful eye of a throng of reporters and photographers.

The training session eased the rumors from some local media that Liu would announce his retirement.

The training event lasted about 40 minutes before Liu fled.

   Previous page 1 2 Next Page  

   Previous page 1 2 Next Page