LONDON, Aug 7: China’s Liu Xiang left the Olympic stadium in a wheelchair on Tuesday after hitting the first barrier in a 110 metre hurdles heat, an unhappy echo of Beijing when his early exit due to injury was a bitter blow to the host nation.

Former Olympic champion and world record holder Liu, 29, had been left distraught in 2008 when he was forced to withdraw just moments before his opening heat in front of his home fans at the Beijing Games.

His return to the Olympic arena on Tuesday lasted just a split second when he ploughed into the first hurdle with his left leading leg and crashed heavily to the track.

Liu, who has been troubled by back and foot problems, eventually got up and hopped down the track to be embraced by his fellow competitors, winning warm applause from the stadium packed with 80,000 stunned spectators.

Feng Shuyong, the head coach of the Chinese athletics team, said the injury was similar to the one he suffered four years ago.

“I feel really sad because he has worked very hard to get back to the level he was at before as champion,” Feng said.

Asked whether the 29-year-old Liu mentioned retiring, Feng replied: “It is not the time to talk about that.”

China’s first male gold medallist on the Olympic track after triumphing in 2004, Liu remains his country’s most popular sportsman alongside former basketball player Yao Ming.

The international edition of the China Daily newspaper’s headline on a front-page pre-race story Tuesday read: “Liu ready to atone for 2008 disaster.” Instead, it was more of the same four years later.

Fans at home quickly took to social networking websites to voice their dismay.

“My heart is broken,” wrote one on Chinese microblogging service Sina Weibo. “I had been awaiting this race with such expectation.”—Reuters