Liu Xiang is out

I heard the news when walking through a subway station Monday evening. People were staring at television monitors, stunned into silence. China's most popular athlete, Liu Xiang, dropped out of the hurdles event during the first round with a hamstring injury. The 110 meter hurdles was the most anticipated event of the Games because Liu was expected to go head-to-head with the Cuban runner who beat his world record earlier this year. More importantly, he was going to defend his 2004 gold medal in this event, which was the first track gold medal won by a Chinese male athlete. I felt bad for him because of the immense pressure he was under and now he has suffered from a common injury at the worst possible moment and everyone is devastated.