China waits wearily for Liu Xiang's successor.

Liu Xiang is still a monument of Chinese athletics.

In the summer of 2007, Liu Xiang won his only world title in his career with a time of 12.95 seconds, cementing his status as one of the greatest stars of Chinese athletics.

No one can compare to Liu Xiang

At the Tokyo (Japan) tournament in mid-September, three Chinese athletes made it to the semi-finals but none of them could make it to the final. Liu Junxi finished 5th in the first leg with a time of 13.40 seconds, Xu Zhuoyi finished 6th in the second leg with a time of 13.34 seconds, and Chen Yuanjiang finished 5th in the third leg with a time of 13.32 seconds.

These results are still far from the old world record of 12.88 seconds set by Liu Xiang in 2006, which is still the record for China as well as Asia. This achievement is still extraordinary, even faster than Cordell Tinch's gold medal time of 12.99 seconds in Tokyo.

Tu Trac Nhat, the reigning national champion and student of coach Ton Hai Binh - who has been with Luu Tuong for a long time - could not hold back his tears after the race. He admitted: “I did not show my best performance. I expected to run under 13.20 seconds, but the start was not good. I was too nervous and could not show my full potential.”

Liu Xiang, who made China famous with a gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, became a national hero and a symbol of the country’s athletics breakthrough. He later won a silver medal at the 2005 Helsinki World Championships and another silver at the 2011 Daegu World Championships, before injury forced him to retire.

Liu Junxi tried his best but was still far behind Liu Xiang.

Comparing a bundle of chopsticks but not even choosing a flagpole

Coach Sun Haiping, now 70, continues his marathon journey, guiding the new generation of Chinese athletics. Although he admits that there is still a gap between China and the world's top athletes, he remains optimistic: "Our strongest athletes are currently around 13.20 seconds or slightly lower. If they train hard and adjust in the next one or two years, they can return to world class," he said.

Referring to Tran Nguyen Giang - a young talent only 19 years old, 1.86 meters tall, with good jumping ability - Coach Ton emphasized the experience factor: "When Luu Tuong first competed internationally, there was also a huge gap. But through many matches, he shortened the gap, built up confidence and finally reached the top."

Sun expressed his belief that Chinese hurdlers could make a breakthrough at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Meanwhile, Chen Yuanjiang, in his first World Championships, remained positive: “I have not achieved the results I expected, but the important thing is to keep my spirits up, learn from this experience and prepare for the next tournament.”

Source: https://znews.vn/trung-quoc-mon-moi-doi-truyen-nhan-cua-luu-tuong-post1589972.html