The man who broke a billion hearts fell at the first hurdle for the second Olympics in a row yesterday and gave London its Derek Redmond moment.
Liu Xiang crashed into the barrier during his heat of the 110 metres hurdles and fell to the track in pain and despair. As the crowd gasped, Liu was left to consider that he had been unable to clear a single obstacle in two Olympic Games.
Four years ago Liu was the face of the Games, China’s version of Jessica Ennis. The State limited his phone calls so that he could train harder. He was driven to the private rooms of karaoke bars in a blacked-out limo. Then he turned up to the Beijing Olympics nursing an Achilles