Was China’s Hurdler Liu Xiang faking?
With the disappointing drop out of the 110m hurdles many people in China have come to the conclusion that Liu Xiang was faking his leg injury. The 2004 gold medalist is as big of an icon in China as Yao Ming and has many massive sponsors including Coca Cola, Nike and a few telecommunication companies in China. Many people think that he pulled out because of the massive amount of pressure put on him to win another gold medal. The 2008 sprinters were a much stronger field then in 2004 and Xiang was not a lock at all to win a medal.
Liu Xiang’s coach expressed anger when asked if he was faking the injury saying that Xiang is a proud Olympian and would compete if he could, he was just unable to run. Some of Xiang’s sponsors are thinking about droping the athelete from the public outrage of chinesse citizens while others such as coca cola are still thinking about what to do
A Coca Cola spokeswoman, Christina Lau, said the company will continue to use Liu in marketing. But she declined to give details of advertising plans or say whether Liu’s role would change after his injury.
The finals of the 110m hurdles are set for August 21st at 9:45pm
More on this story here.
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