Home fans wait for Liu Xiang to appear from shroud of mystery

After the record-breaking displays from US swimmer Michael Phelps and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, one of the home favourites will take centre stage at the Olympics, although his form is in question over injury concerns.

Liu Xiang runs his first heat in the men's 110-metres hurdles this morning at the 'Bird's Nest'. If all goes as planned, the 25-year-old athlete will breeze through the next two rounds tomorrow and Wednesday before making a final push to defend the gold he took in Athens.

Liu has been training in seclusion for the past eight months, making only four international outings.

His management team wrong-footed the press by announcing the hurdler would move into the Olympic village yesterday, but Liu and his entourage sneaked in after dark on Saturday. Liu has resorted to decoy cars to throw the press off in the past.

Conflicting messages have emerged in the mainland press. First there were reports that a sore hamstring that forced him out of two back-to-back one-day tournaments in the United States in early June had developed into a crippling injury serious enough to ruin his Olympic chances.

Next, 'inside' sources were quoted as saying Liu had shown amazing form in training, running under the 13-second mark, even closing in on the 12.90 mark, the minimum needed for any serious shot at gold. Now, the latest rumour has Liu troubled by a heel injury described, not surprisingly, in vague terms.