Liu Xiang, defending Olympic champion and former world record holder in the 110m hurdles, pulled up lame after a false start in the first round, disqualifying himself from contention early in the competition. Doesn't sound like a big deal to us in the Western world, but Liu Xiang was the Chinese star in these Olympics, the Michael Phelps of the host nation. The loss was taken so hard that many fans (and even Liu's coach) cried when it happened.
China isn't very strong in any of the track events, and this was their one chance to show their superiority in a (somewhat) marquee event. A couple more in-depth takes on this at ESPN and NYT.
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