ATHENS, Aug. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Newly crowned Olympic hurdle champion Liu Xiang will bear the flag for China at the closing ceremony of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Chinese sports officialrevealed here on Sunday.

    The 21-year-old Liu, who was born in Shanghai, made the historyby winning the first gold medal in the men's 110m hurdles for Asiaon Friday.

    "Liu has been in the limelight since winning the gold on Friday," He Huixian, deputy chef-de-mission of the Chinese Sports Delegation told Xinhua. "We received piles of congratulation and praise from all over the world in the last few days."

    "This gold medal is very important for China and Asia," She added. "We are very proud of him and would like to offer him an opportunity to show himself before sports fans all round the world."

    Liu, last year's bronze medalist at world indoor and outdoor championships, clocked a world record-equaling time of 12.91 seconds for his first Olympic title.

    He also broke the Olympic record of 12.95 seconds set by Allen Johnson of the United States in the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996.

    The winning margin is the biggest since the Seoul Olympics in 1988, where Roger Kingdom of the United States won with 12.98 to British Colin Jackson's silver medal performance of 13.28.

    NBA star center Yao Ming, also from Shanghai, was the flag bearer of the Chinese delegation in the opening ceremony. Enditem