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BEIJING: Olympic 110m hurdles champion Liu Xiang has raised eyebrows
among China’s political elite by skipping the nation’s annual
parliamentary season for a track meet in Spain, state press said
Monday.
Liu, 24, was selected as a delegate to the
nation’s parliamentary advisory body and, as a representative of
China’s sporting world, had the right to voice his opinions on the
administration of sports, including the Olympic Games.
But Liu, world record holder and Athens Olympic
champion in the hurdles, departed for Madrid on Sunday and will run
at the world indoor championships in Valencia from March 7 to 9.
His decision to skip the political meeting did
not appear to go down very well with officials.
“Liu Xiang is one of the outstanding
delegates from the sports world, he was made a delegate to the
political conference after consultations and everyone supported
this decision,” conference spokesman Wu Jianmin told the China
Sports Daily.
“When the sports world has a delegate like
him, it should not only be a responsibility, but also an honor.”
Liu’s handlers, however, said that he must run
in Valencia and other upcoming European indoor track meets to
maintain his training push toward the August Beijing Olympics, where
he is one of China’s top medal hopes.
“If he wants to post good results then he
needs systematic training,” the Beijing News said, citing Liu’s
trainers.
“If we make Liu Xiang stop training for half a
month . . . then what will happen to his results?”
-- AFP
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