The load on Liu

Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang is already a superstar – and 1.3 billion pairs of eyes will be watching him in August

It’s not a stretch to say that one man’s race has never meant so much to so many people as Liu Xiang in the men’s 110 metres hurdles this summer. The gold medal winner in 2004’s Athens Olympics, Liu is possibly the biggest sports star, and possibly even the biggest star of any kind, in the world’s most populous country. With a home Olympics on the way, expectation doesn’t get more intense.

Liu gets mobbed every time he steps outside his Shanghai home and drives a blacked-out car; his legs are insured for US$13.3 million, and his cleanly handsome face stares Big Brother-like from just about everywhere it’s possible to squeeze an advert. Like Cathy Freeman (see Feature ), he is a symbol of what can be achieved by a people: Freeman showed that Australian Aboriginals can win gold medals; Liu shows that a Chinese athlete can beat the West, and America, at one of its own games. Liu is similar to Freeman, too, in that he seems to be equipped to cope with the pressure. In February, he claimed that he felt "no pressure at all," and last month he claimed that "the Olympics is just another race in my life." That’s the right approach, says Freeman, who advises him to treat his race as "just another day in the office."

Neverthless, Liu has often complained about how fame has affected his life. "Being famous is sometimes a good thing, but sometimes not. I prefer not to be famous," Liu told the Times (London). "My situation has changed and I have money now, but I can't shop." In another irony, the handsome Liu, who is adored by women across China as a considerate and pliable "Shanghai man," doesn’t have time for a girlfriend. He looks forward to retiring, when "I will return to an ordinary life and it will be like it was before." Somehow, one doubts Liu will ever have an ordinary life, especially if he wins gold this summer.

Toby Skinner