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Nov
2003----Dec
2003-Jan 2004----Feb
2004----Mar
2004----Apr
2004----May
2004----Jun
2004----Jul
2004----Aug
2004
People
(September 2004)
The
Person of the Month is Liu Xiang, the first Asian in history
to win the men's 110m hurdles at the Olympic Games. According
to People's
Daily Online, the 22-year-old Chinese athlete claimed
the gold medal of the glamorous men's 110m hurldes before
a capacity crowd of 70,000 at the Olympic Stadium in the
28th Olympic Games in Athens on August 27, 2004. He clocked
a stunning 12.91 seconds to equal the world record set by
Britain's Collin Jackson in 1993. He also broke the Olympic
record of 12.95 seconds set by Allen Johnson of the United
States in the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996.
Chinese
fans in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai burst into
hysteria and many cried out when the national television
station CCTV broadcast the event live, when brave Liu Xiang
dashed to the line in arms and legs far ahead of his rivals,
in the early hours Saturday morning Beijing time. Click
here
to view the video. It is the first gold Chinese men's
athlete has ever won from the track and field in the Olympics
history. China has won over 100 gold medals from the summer
Olympic Games since 1984 but their male athletes only got
one medal from Olympics' most popular sport. That was high
jumper Zhu Jianhua's bronze in the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
Liu
Xiang said, "It is an amazing experience being the
Olympic champion. I want to thank my coach and my friends
for all their help. I think today the Chinese people showed
the world they can run as fast as anybody else."
The
Shanghai native, Liu Xiang was selected to the Junior Sports
School of Putuo District of Shanghai to practice jumping
as a fourth grader in the primary school. But after a bone
test showing that he will not be able to become a tall man,
Liu Xiang was asked to give up sports one year later, although
he had won the national champion at that level. His
parents also wanted him to study computer engineering or
some other profession befitting his middle-class Shanghai
upbringing, but Liu Xiang decided to go on. The year of
1998 was a turning point for Liu's career, when he attracted
coach Sun Haiping's attention as a 15-year-old jumper.
Sun
was a well known hurdle coach who had nurtured Asian champion
Chen Yanhao and he believed a star was born at the first
sight of Liu. He visited Liu's parents serveral times and
finally persuaded them to let Liu transfer to the 110m hurdles.
After only three years, Liu launched his career in style
in the IAAF Grand Prix in Lausanne in 2001 by breaking the
world youth and Asian record with a time of 13.12. And
in the next two years leading to the Olympic Games, he has
won titles at the Asian championships, the World University
Games and the Asian Games.
Liu
Xiang's Bio:
- Country:
China
- Sport:
Track & Field
- Event(s):
110m Hurdles
- Birthdate:
July 13, 1982
- Birthplace:
Shanghai, China
- Height:
6'2" / 188 cm
- Weight:
165 lbs / 74.8 kgs
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