Olympic 110m hurdles champion Liu Xiang has raised eyebrows among China's political elite by skipping the nation's annual parliamentary season for a track meet in Spain, state press said yesterday.
Liu, 24, was selected as a delegate to the nation's parliamentary advisory body and, as a representative of China's sporting world, had the right to voice his opinions on the administration of sports, including the Olympic Games.
But Liu, world record holder and Athens Olympic champion in the hurdles, departed for Madrid on Sunday and will run at the world indoor championships in Valencia from Friday until Sunday, the Xinhua news agency said.
His decision to skip the political meeting did not appear to go down very well with officials, the China Sports Daily said.
"Liu Xiang is one of the outstanding delegates from the sports world, he was made a delegate to the political conference after consultations and everyone supported this decision," conference spokesman Wu Jianmin told the paper. "When the sports world has a delegate like him, it should not only be a responsibility, but also an honor."
Liu's handlers however said that he must run in Valencia and other upcoming European indoor track meets to maintain his training push toward the August Beijing Olympics, where he is one of China's top medal hopes.
"If he wants to post good results then he needs systematic training," the Beijing News said, citing Liu's trainers. "If we make Liu Xiang stop training for half a month ... then what will happen to his results?"
Liu became the first Chinese man to take an Olympic athletics gold when he won the 110m hurdles in Athens in 2004 aged 21.
In August last year he created history again in Osaka after becoming the first Chinese man to win a world athletics title.
In China, the ruling party often selects young sporting and entertainment stars as delegates in an effort to increase the public appeal of the political bodies.
They are typically appointed to the China People's Political Consultative Conference, which acts as an advisory body to the main parliament, the National People's Congress.
Tennis player Yan Zi, currently ranked a career-high 54 in the world, is another athlete picked as a delegate to this year's advisory body.
However Yan will also not attend because she is also competing in international competitions, according to the Titan sports newspaper.
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