THERE were two words on every Chinese lip yesterday - Liu Xiang.

From the journalists to the volunteers to the man on the street, everyone was talking about the demise of the man who had become an iconic figure in the world's most populous country.

Forget about China's first gold medal won by weightlifter Chen Xiexia or Yang Wei's all-round gymnastics title.

If there was one gold medal which the Olympics hosts coveted most, it had to be the 110-metres hurdles gold that was expected to be delivered by Liu.

His much-anticipated showdown with world record-holder Dayron Robles of Cuba in the final on Thursday will not happen after the 25-year-old pulled out of his heat citing an Achilles' tendon injury.

His withdrawal sent shockwaves across the country, whose population of 1.3 billion had waited four years for him to repeat his Athens feat on home soil.

Lee Hiu Wing, managing editor of Hong Kong Commercial Daily, has followed every of Liu's races since he won the gold medal at the Athens Games in 2004 with a Games record time of 12.91sec.

According to her, Liu would wave back to his supporters whenever they chanted his name before each race.

Yesterday, the 91,000 crowd went delirious as Liu made his grand entrance into the Bird's Nest.

Cheers

But as they chanted his name, Liu ignored the fans' cheers for the first time.

Lee told The New Paper: 'This was a tell-tale sign that perhaps all was not well with Liu.'

Her worst fears were realised when Liu grimaced as he warmed up on the track.

Despite the discomfort, Liu took his place on Lane 2 for his heat.

A false start by Qatar's Mohammed Issa Al-Thawadi in Lane 3 sent the seven competitors back to the starting blocks.

That was the last time the crowd saw their hero.

Liu limped towards the starters' table and signalled that he was pulling out of the race. It took a while for the crowd to realise that their national hero had pulled out of the Olympics.

But once reality set in, many supporters, including volunteers and journalists, cried their hearts out.

The media waited patiently for Liu at the mixed zone, but he did not show up.

His coach Sun Haiping and Feng Shouyong, the head coach of the China Athletics Team, called for a press conference later.

A crestfallen Sun broke down in front of the media.

He said: 'Liu has two injuries - one to the leg and one to the foot. He had the leg injury, but it was cured.

'The reason why he pulled out is his heel. I don't know when he got the injury, probably six or seven years ago.

'The injury has been back and forth between intensive training and this is the main problem.'

Liu had been struggling with a hamstring injury for some time, but it was thought that he had recovered in time for the Olympics.

But on Saturday, Liu suffered a recurrence of chronic inflammation in his right Achilles tendon.

Sun said that Liu had an MRI scan after he entered the Athletes' Village last Friday.

Four doctors, including the deputy director of a sports hospital who specialises in his injury, were dispatched to attend to him, but to no avail.

Sun said: 'Whatever measures we took, it was useless because the injury is on the heel, which takes the most force. Whenever he stood up, he fell down.'

As the whole country went into mourning, there were suggestions that Liu probably crumbled under the enormous pressure of delivering China's first gold medal in track and field at Beijing08.

'This is such a pity. My guess is that it is the pressure from 1.3 billion people which hurt him,' said Wang Xiaoshan, a writer with Sports Illustrated.

'I think he may have had psychological difficulties.'

According to a Xinhua News Agency article three days ago, Liu clocked an impressive 12.98 seconds in a timed trial held behind closed doors on 8 Aug - the day of the opening ceremony.

An insider said that Liu showed no ill effects of his injury and stopped taking painkillers.

Reporter Shu Wen, who covers the athletics beat for Xinhua, told The New Paper: 'Pressure may have played a part, but I think he is genuinely injured. He has waited four years for this.

'He wouldn't have faked his injury in front of his own countrymen.'