All eyes will be on superstar hurdler Liu Xiang as he competes in front of his adoring fans at the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games. The 110-metre world record holder is one of China's biggest hopes.
Liu achieved stardom at the 2004 Athens Olympics, where he clinched the mainland's first-ever track and field gold medal.
He is also the first Chinese to achieve the 'triple crown' of athletics (world record holder, world champion and Olympic champion) at the same time.
Liu was born on July 13, 1983 in Shanghai. He took up athletics when he was just seven years old, and joined a sports training school in his home city in 1993.
In 1999, he was called up by the Shanghai athletics team and became a member of the youth national squad the following year. Liu shocked the world a few years later, when he tied the 110m hurdles world record (12.91 seconds) on his way to the gold medal in Greece.
Then he set a new world record of 12.88 seconds at the IAAF Super Grand Prix in Switzerland in 2006.