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Liu Xiang |
BEIJING: Chinese hero Liu Xiang's stunning injury retirement from the defence of his 110m hurdles crown is just the latest in a succession of personal dramas which have struck Olympics athletics in recent years.
At least in Liu's case the culprit was a chronic ankle injury - something that is commonplace for an athlete of his calibre and experience.
It was not so straightforward for others such as Greek sprinters Kostadinos Kenteris and Ekaterina Thanou who, four years ago in Athens, played out their own version of a Greek tragedy and destroyed all hopes of home success.
Accused of missing an eve of Games doping test the duo, backed up by their coach, claimed that they had suffered injuries in a motorbike accident in a rush to get back to the Athletes Village to undergo it.
The farce deepened as they were photographed in bed in hospital still with their running shoes on.
They did not get to compete despite appeals to do so and ended up serving a two year ban under IAAF rules for missing three successive dope tests.
The International Olympic Committee exacted their revenge in Beijing when they refused to accredit her to compete at the Games even though she had been selected for the Greek team.
"There were a whole string of events in this sorry tale," said IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies. "These resulted in a scandalous saga that overshadowed the Athens Games."
Liu, Kenteris and Thanou may have dashed their own compatriots hopes of home glory but in Sydney in 2000 it was Australia's track pin-up girl and icon Cathy Freeman who benefited from the drama surrounding her major rival for the 400m crown.
Her head to head with France's 1996 Olympic champion Marie-Jose Perec was set to be one of the highlights of the athletics competition until Perec fled in the middle of the night claiming she had been the victim of a stalker and that it had been orchestrated by darker forces who didn't want her to compete.
Her flight became even more surreal as they were chanced upon by a TV crew in Singapore airport and there then followed a chase through the duty free section.
Freeman of course was to go on and win the title to huge acclaim at home and abroad.
Perec to be fair did not try and upset her rivals on the track as Linford Christie the then defending 100m champion did in Atlanta in 1996.
The Briton, who was subsequently to end his career in disgrace, refused to leave the track after being disqualified for two false starts and remonstrated with officials until finally being persuaded to go.
His actions left a bitter taste in the mouth of several of his fellow finalists.
"He cost me gold. His antics put me off and I found it very difficult to refocus," said Trinidad sprinter Ado Boldon at the time.
But for exits from a Games nobody can quite compare to that of Ben Johnson in Seoul in 1988 after it was revealed he had tested positive for steroids.
A full police escort onto the flight home, as hundreds of journalists tried desperately to get a word from him, to disgrace and ignominy, a suitable accompaniment for a man who had tried to cheat his way to winning the ultimate prize in athletics.
- AFP
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