Liu Xiang

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Liu Xiang [File Photo]

Dubbed the "Flying Man", 110-meter hurdler Liu Xiang is the first Chinese athlete to achieve the "triple crown" of athletics: World Record Holder, World Champion and Olympic Champion. Liu is also one of China's most commercially successful athletes, as well as a devotee to charitable causes.

 

Liu has been considered by many to be a national hero despite crashing out and withdrawing from the 2008 and 2012 Olympics due to disastrous physical injuries. Liu's 2004 Athens Olympic gold medal was the first in a men's track and field event for China. He equaled Colin Jackson's 1993 world record of 12.91 seconds, making him only the sixth man to post a time under 13 seconds for the event.

Liu finished the 110-meter hurdles in 12.88 seconds at the Super Grand Prix in Lausanne on July 11, 2006, breaking the record held by Colin Jackson for 13 years. He also won first place in 110-meter hurdles race in three successive Asian Games in 2002, 2006 and 2010.

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Born: July 13, 1983, in Shanghai

Height: 189cm; Weight: 87kg

Event(s): 110m-hurdles

Pro career: 1993-present