China's superstar hurdler Liu Xiang admits that he has yet to show his best form this year, but is nonetheless aiming to win a couple of races in the Golden League series.
'To be frank, I feel different from this time last year when I was strictly focused on the Olympics,' said Athens Olympic champion Liu, 22, in Shanghai yesterday. 'I think I have raced too much and trained less this year, which has hurt my form.'
The seven-leg Golden League series begins on July 1 with a meeting in Paris and ends in early September in Morocco. Liu plans to race at all seven meetings. 'I think it's probably going to be the busiest summer in my career,' he said.
Liu is looking forward to racing overseas after being the centre of so much attention at home.
'To race at some domestic events is a formidable experience these days,' Liu's coach, Sun Haiping said. 'Once we even had an official ask Liu for his autograph on the track minutes before the race.'
Liu's latest result was a third at the Grand Prix in New York two weeks ago behind arch-rival Allen Johnson. He leaves for Paris early next week and will be based there for the next three months.
