Winner of gold at the Athens Olympics in 2004, he suffered a public defeat at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Since then he has always had problems with his Achilles tendon. Million dollar contracts with Coca-Cola and Nike.

Beijing (AsiaNews) - Olympic hurdles champion Liu Xiang has decided to retire from the sport. Making the official announcement on Sina Weibo (the "twitter" Chinese) he said he "had no choice" but to retire as a professional athlete. On his blog, Liu also spoke of feeling "really bad" and being "old and no longer able to run and jump."

Liu was the first Chinese to win Olympic gold in the 100m hurdles in Athens in 2004. He maintained his world title in 2006 and 2007, but in 2008, at the Beijing Olympics he had to withdraw at the last moment, slumping onto the track and leaving the fans with a huge sense of humiliation. Until then, the government and the population had seen him as an icon of the Beijing Olympics, the image of a modern China, powerful and victorious.

A few months before the 2008 Beijing Games Liu began to have problems with his Achilles tendon, which made it increasingly difficult to participate in competitions.

Liu’s economic career earned him far more than athletics: over the years he has had million dollar contracts with companies like Coca Cola and Nike.

In August in the World Athletics Championships will be held in Beijing. Liu had already said he would not attend, but hopes to support Chinese sports "in another role."

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