What happened to Liu Xiang's heel

What happened to Liu Xiang's heel
Staff reporter Li TianShu

On August 18, Liu Xiang is in the first round of Men's 110 Meters Hurdle of Beijing Olympic Games, because the heel withdraws from the match wounded. Li Ga takes the photograph



In hundreds of millions of people's gaze, Liu Xiang has said good-bye to the court of the Olympic Games in an unexpected way.

At over 11 o'clock on August 18, Liu Xiang in red sportswear and yellow running shoes appears on the preliminary contest starting line of column of 110 meters. Get up and run after shooting, the referee tells someone to beat the gun, athletes return to the starting line and plan to get up and run again. Liu Xiang is after the first step is taken, the right foot goes wrong, get back to the starting line limping, the white match track on one's body mark and pick.

This defending champion who concentrates too many Chinese Guan Ai withdraws from the match.

At the news briefing after comparable to, Liu Xiang's coach Sun Haiping says, Liu Xiang is wounded on the right foot heel string.

Why is Liu Xiang injured? Why can not he grit one's teeth and insist on the match? How to prevent the similar situation from appearing?

Have too old and wounded " The heart is wounded "

On August 16, Liu Xiang accepts in Olympic Village the medical expert holds a consultation, is confirmed wounded in the tip of heel string. For not giving up this rare chance, he appears on the court of the Olympic Games. Sun Haiping says, Liu Xiang's wound is not green wound, his right foot heel string is injured and accumulates gradually, has had 67 years already, there is the response after the large intensity has been trained.

Scientific institute associate professor Yang Guang says sports of normal university of Shenyang, because often there are overload situations at the time of fierceness and training of athletics sports, so not so few as injured professional athletes. Wound has been perplexing all top athletes all the time, and the greatest nightmare of athlete's career all the time. Generally speaking, for the need of specific important match, athletes present the old wound before the match, the expert will adopt and guard treating, so as to ensure athletes keep normal training and keep the good sports level in the match. Liu Xiang's wound recurs before having a match, it is all very cruel for any athlete.

Except wound, another important reason can't be ignored either. Yang Guang says, psychological pressure often becomes straw of the last which overwhelms athletes.

Over these several years, the spiritual pressure that Liu Xiang has born is difficult to imagine. To Liu Xiang, the pressure that the Olympic Games makes good achievements even wins the championship is very large. Athletics sports is cruel, the emergence of rising stars such as Cuban young pathbreaker Robles,etc., force some high-level athletes to maintain very high training intensity.

Yang Guang says, even the athletes who there is very strong psychological modulability as Liu Xiang does, it is bound to be influenced too in front of these pressures. These pressures are synthesized together, and there is no channel suitable and unobstructed to discongest, training or often apt to cause the psychology to fluctuate in the match, cause technology to be become deformed in movements, mental fatigue even takes place, increase the risk of the athletic injury.

Can he insist on again

Liu Xiang can not finish the group robin, cannot help but turns round to leave away. Can he grit one's teeth and insist on the match?

Yang Guang says, because of the particularity of the dash event, grits one's teeth the situation insisting can not almost present. Not only Liu Xiang, famous column athlete Trammel of 110 meters also can not finish the match in the group robin, withdraw from the competition due to wound. Yang Guang says, in the match in long-distance race,etc., injured athletes can be in uncomfortable cases, grit one's teeth after insisting on the competition, even make good achievements, because the long-distance race need is mostly the endurance. But in the dash event, it is the explosive force in the twinkling of an eye that need, the competition needs to use millisecond to calculate, grit one's teeth to insist the meaning is not big. In dash sports, the running shoes that athletes wore and design of runway have all increased the frictional force that athletes run in the course. The block needs athletes to pedal with very great strength, leg and foot will receive the transient enormous pressure.

Wounded in right the intersection of foot and heel string Xiang Liu, insist on match, in exert oneself the local high strength damaged, it is very apt to cause the heel string to rupture. Can't insist on the match to Liu Xiang, Sun Haiping says, Liu Xiang has already accepted the treatment including that the part has been frozen before the match, but because of the place to injure just in the calcaneum, it is the place for receiving strength most, the foot is getting soft once propping up, it is unable to exert oneself.

The foot is the sending area of the height of wound

It is wound less projects to run in athletics sports, this is because run the antagonism of the competition body is less. However, Yang Guang points out, it is one of the most common sport wounds in a dash event that the heel string like Liu Xiang is damaged. Foot ankle tendons are numerous, maintain the movement function of foot ankle together, tendons and fibula tendons,etc. behind the most important thing is heel string, shin among them. It is numerous to damage the reason to happen, there are direct external forces, such as striking etc., there are indirect external forces, until gymnastics make the intersection of somersault and heel string that movement lead to the fact, unusually receive strength in the event. Dash sports need breaking out in the twinkling of an eye, under moving and training intensity, very apt crooking the skin and is strained, heel string fiber is torn etc. behind causing the thigh. Dash damage relate to movement intensity, have footballs while being intensity -like, also the heel string appears very easily to damage the situation.

On June 1 this year, Liu Xiang presents wound and withdraws from Grand Prix of New York after the match because of the right thigh, have already covered with the shade in order to participate in this Olympic Games. About injured reason, Sun Haiping explain because of train amount of exercise to be too big, make Liu Xiang shank a strength increase in the muscle, both ends tendons are involved. Relate to the fact that the tendon may also damage with athlete's body characteristic. Sun Haiping say foot and foot of common people of Xiang Liu a little different, two foot others take, stress a bit compared with bone.

Small disease needs raising big

How to avoid the situation of similar to Liu Xianging and continue appearing on the court? The Li 's of State Sport General Administration sports medical science research institute is flat to point out, I agree very much athletes ask for long recuperation leave only minor illness, want, pay attention to scientific sports training, want, prevent various wound actively, instead of treat being kind, the ones that are not so good as preventing are good.

On July 12, 2006, Liu Xiang was in the super grand prix Men's 110 Meters Hurdle match of the athletics of Lausanne of Switzerland, create the new world record with the achievement of 12 seconds 88. In February in the same year, Liu Xiang's left foot is injured, fails to participate in training and the competition in 80 days. During this period, Liu Xiang trains, has improved strength and physical stamina a large number of projects. Though Liu Xiang is wounded, not unoccupied, therefore obtain the achievement attracting attention so after appearing again.

Likewise after being wounded, this scene can not recur on the court of the Olympic Games of today in 2006. The expert points out, Liu Xiang has been injured all the time, but he has not stopped the step of training, the state appearing today is worth reviewing.

In fact, Liu Xiang has been by having a match to take the place of practising all the time, and participate in numerous international tournaments, the representatives promoting as the state it. In 2005, he participated in 18 domestic and foreign competitions without a single halt. As to this, the expert points out, should treat the problem that athletes train in spite of wound conscientiously. Though some athletes, through resuming training, has obtained very good achievement, but look for a long time, in this way summit is very difficult to maintain. We can say, it is a kind of overdraw to athlete's ability and potentiality to train in spite of wound.

Can Liu Xiang still return to the court? The expert points out, Liu Xiang is a rare elite, so long as give him enough time to recover and adjust, it is believed that Liu Xiang will return to the runway.



What happened to Liu Xiang's heel