Mentor of defending Olympic champion Liu Xiang said on Monday morning that his pupil was fighting his fortune as warming up into the first round of the Olympic men's 110m hurdles heats.

"His Achilles's tendon in right foot was seriously hurt again this morning before the race," the tearful coach Sun Haiping said in a post-race press conference where Liu did not show up.

"With the bad injury," Sun said, "Liu shivered when receiving immediate medical treatment of three sports doctors."

"It's just impossible for him to run, but he still doesn't want to give up," said Sun, praising his pupil's extraordinarily strong mentality and sportsmanship.

Feng Shuyong, head coach of the Chinese athletic team, acknowledged that both Liu and Sun were under great pressure of defending the Olympic title.

In the last heat of the first round, Liu quit the race after a false start of Dutchman Marcel van der Westen. He limped off the track, troubled by an injury on his right Achilles's tendon.

Sun said, "His right heel injury has been a long problem since six years ago, even before the Athens Olympics."

World record holder Dayron Robles of Cuba earlier breezed through to the next round, clocking 13.39 seconds.

Without Liu and Olympic silver medalist Terrence Trammell of the United States, who fell down to the track in heat five, Robles will be almost unbeatable in the finals.

Liu's teammates Shi Dongpeng and Ji Wei were also qualified for the next round.

(Xinhua News Agency August 18, 2008)