BEIJING, Feb. 5 -- Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang is
expected to return to Shanghai as early as next month as his recovery from the
foot injury that forced him out of the Beijing Olympics has been much better
than expected, according to his coach.
Sun Haiping, the coach of the star hurdler, landed
in the United States February 4 with two sandbags and two special rubber bands to
help the athlete, who is undergoing rehabilitation there, hasten his recovery
training.
The sandbags and bands will be used to step up
strength training of Liu's legs, Sun revealed.
Liu, the 2004 Olympic champion and former
world-record holder in the 110-meter hurdles, hopefully will be able to wear his
spike shoes again next month, Sun said.
The most successful Chinese sprinter now has only two
chairs at his rental apartment as tools for some basic strength training,
Shanghai Oriental Morning Posted cited Sun as saying.
The 26-year-old Shanghai native started jogging on
the treadmill last week, nearly two months after undergoing ankle surgery at
Houston's Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center on December 5.
Doctors removed four small pieces of bone from the
Achilles' tendon of his right foot during the hour-long operation, Liu's first.
The injury happened over a period of time, resulting
in microscopic tearing of the tendon's fibers, which caused bleeding. The
process produced calcium and resulted in the bone pieces forming within the
tendon, according to Dr. Thomas Clanton, who performed the operation.
Clanton also operated on NBA all-star Yao Ming for a
stress fracture in his left foot earlier last year.
Clanton said Liu would recover fully in six months
and could compete again at the level he was before his injury.
However, Sun said he could not predict whether Liu
would be able to be back to competitive form in time for the August 15-23 world
championships.
"The tendon was a key part in his running and I will
not be sure of his fully recovered until he gets on his spikes and hits the
track again."
(Source: Shanghai Daily)
