Media across the mainland yesterday called for an overhaul of the way national sports are run.
Officials were obsessed with winning gold medals, commentators said, and intense pressure and commercial interests were to blame for pushing former Olympic champion Liu Xiang too hard, despite his injuries.
The articles followed an outpouring of sympathy and shock after Liu stumbled over the first hurdle of his preliminary heat in the Olympics 110-metre hurdles event on Tuesday, falling to the ground and clutching his lower right leg as the world gasped.
The Chinese Athletics Association said Liu had broken his right Achilles tendon and was scheduled to have surgery 'in these two days' in Britain. The head of the association, Du Zhaocai, said the operation would be performed by a British surgeon who had treated famous stars such as David Beckham, Xinhua reported.
It was the second straight Olympics in which the 2004 Athens champion failed to clear a single hurdle because of injury.
Some observers pointed to the huge burdens on athletes such as Liu, saying he was a man without freedom to decide his own fate.