2001年8月28日,名不见经传的青年跨栏运动员刘翔在北京的第21届大运会上获得110米栏冠军时,很少有人意识到,这仅仅是这个年轻人辉煌体育生涯的开始,三年后,他将再次改写历史。
当时,18岁的刘翔是上海华东师范大学的学生,轻松跑出13.33秒的成绩,为中国获得第一块田径金牌。这也是从1996年由跳高转练跨栏的刘翔本人获得的第一块国际赛事金牌。
这次胜利是他运动生涯的一个里程碑,向世界传递出一种讯息:一位冠军之星正在冉冉升起。
2004年雅典奥运会上,21岁的刘翔成为亚洲历史上第一位获得男子110米栏金牌的运动员,平了12.91秒的世界纪录。
同时他打破了由美国运动员约翰逊在1996年亚特兰大奥运会上创造的12.95秒的奥运会纪录。
而刘翔自己回忆,北京大运会的舞台是他意识到自己最初梦想的地方,他就是从那里起航的。
WHEN Liu Xiang, then a teenage hurdler unknown to the public, won the 110-meter hurdles in the 21st Universiade in Beijing on Aug. 28, 2001, few people realized that it was just the beginning of the glorious career of the young man, who rewrote sporting history three years later.
Liu, then an 18-year-old student with East China Normal University in Shanghai, clocked 13.33 seconds with ease, the first track-and-field gold medal for China. It was also the first gold medal in an international competition for Liu, who shifted to hurdles from high jump in 1996.
The victory was a milestone in his career, sending a message to the world that a champion was in the making.
Liu became the first Asian in history to win the men"s 110m hurdles at the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004 at the age of 21. He clocked a world record-equaling time of 12.91 seconds for the gold.
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.
Beijing Universiade arena was the place he realized his first dream and he started from there, Liu recalled. ( 李静)
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