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Ex-coach recalls Xiang’s discovery
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ASIANAGE on 16 July, 2008 01:39:07
 
By D’Arcy Doran
SHANGHAI
The 12-year-old was being beaten in his events at the school meet, but as coach
Fang Shuiquan watched the boy sprint the 100 metres and launch into the long
jump, he had a flash of inspiration.
He had noticed the rhythm, flexibility and strong ankles. So, Fang approached
the boy and suggested he was doing the wrong events. The coach asked if he’d
like to switch to hurdles. "Sure," the boy answered.
The boy’s name was Liu Xiang and that was the moment he jumped onto a path
that led him to become China’s first men’s track and field Olympic champion
with a world record-equalling run in the 110m hurdles at the 2004 Athens Games.
"If I hadn’t seen Liu Xiang jumping on this spot, we wouldn’t be seeing his
success today," Fang said, pointing to a sandpit behind the Shanghai Sports
School where he works and Liu still often trains.
Now at 25, Liu carries on his shoulders the expectations of 1.3 billion Chinese
that he repeat his gold medal winning performance.
If anyone can cope with that pressure, it is Liu, Fang said. He recalled that
even at a young age Liu showed an amazing ability to block out distractions.
During one race, Liu realised on the starting line that he’d forgotten to
wear his number. Everything stopped while he sprinted to the finish line and
asked Fang to retrieve it from his bag. Liu stood calmly while everyone waited,
then pinned it on, and sprinted back.
"Altogether he ran a few extra hundred metres," Fang said. "When he got back,
the race started and he still won."
Fang, a graduate of the Shanghai University of Sport, had originally wanted to
coach soccer but the Communist Party ordered him to become a 110m hurdles
specialist.
At a recent training session, Fang rapidly clapped out a rhythm as his charges
darted over hurdles, snapping their elbows back and springing their legs forward
— always looking ahead with an intensity similar to Liu’s. They are some of
China’s best young hurdlers and they will train with Fang until 18. The
fastest will then go to work under Shanghai provincial team coach Sun Haiping,
who is also China’s national coach and Liu’s current mentor.
Fang’s coaching record is unrivalled — all of China’s top 10 men’s
hurdlers are his former students. — AFP