Although the fastest two hurdles sprinters in the season breezed through the first round of the Olympic men's 110m hurdles, the quit of both defending champion Liu Xiang and silver medalist Terrence Trammell made the competition less charismatic.
Spectators in the National Stadium, or the venue for the Olympic athletics competitions, were stunned at the scene when the 25-year-old Liu, also world champion, limped off the track, seemingly being troubled by a foot injury.
It was said before the Olympics that after recovering from some hamstring problem, Liu was challenged by the chronic foot hurt since six years ago.
Liu immediately showed uncomfortable three strides after a false start made by Dutchman Marcel van der Westen. When the start referee called them back, Liu went directly to the rest area and quit the race.
In a heat earlier, Trammell, double Olympic and world championships silver medalist, fell down to the track and pulled out of the sprint afterwards.
Dayron Robles of Cuba, who shortened Liu's world record of 12.88 seconds by one hundredth of a second, clocked 13.39 seconds into the next round; while David Oliver of the United States finished in the fastest 13.30 seconds in all the heats.
Liu's teammates Shi Dongpeng and Ji Wei were also qualified for the next round.
(Xinhua News Agency August 18, 2008)