Liu Xiang's parents are trying to ease tension while carefully counting down the days to the men's 110 meters hurdles finals on August 21.

The couple are facing as much pressure as their son, China's biggest hope for the Olympic athletics gold.

"We try not to think about all the 'what ifs'," said Liu Xiang's father Liu Xuegen as the couple packed their luggage and prepared to take a train to Beijing on Thursday. "We hope he will do his best."

Liu and his wife Ji Fenhua will leave for Beijing on Thursday night. They will attend the Olympics opening ceremony on Friday and will watch their son play.

"We feel like all other anxious parents ahead of their children's major test -- of course we hope he will get good scores," said Liu the senior.

Hoping Liu Xiang would get good scores, friends and relatives have kept calling on the couple these days, bringing regards and advice on how Liu Xiang should perform. Some even wrote notes to him with dos and don'ts during the Games.

"We understand how they feel, but frankly speaking, we're not in the mood to listen, nor do we have the chance to meet Liu Xiang anytime soon," said Liu.

The 25-year-old gold medallist hopeful is apparently facing a lot more pressure and difficulties than what many people think. While world record holder Dayron Robles from Cuba appears to be in full swing, Liu is still building up his form for the Games.

Some of Liu Xiang's fans are already getting prepared for his possible loss and are discussing "what if he really failed" on the Internet. An online poll shows 70 percent of the fans would calmly face his loss. Officials with the sports administration even advised the public to "forget about Liu for the moment".

Liu's mother said she worries Liu's leg cramps might relapse if he's training too hard.

She talks with Liu on the phone every day, reminding him to be extra careful not to catch a cold or diarrhea and carefully shunning the sensitive issue of how his training is getting along.

"Liu had intensive training these days to compensate for what he had lost due to shortage of competitions before the Olympics," Liu's coach Sun Haiping was quoted by the Chinese Athletics Association website.

Liu, whose world record was taken over by Robles by one hundredth of a second to 12.87 seconds in June, is now cherishing every minute to prepare himself for the coming Olympic competition.

He will begin his title defense in the National Stadium, better known as Bird's Nest, on August 18.

(Xinhua News Agency August 7, 2008)