As a child, Liu Xiang was a high jumper until his sports school asked him to give up the event because a bone test showed that he would not grow tall enough to become a world-class jumper. He began training as a hurdler in 1998. In 2002 Liu broke Renaldo Nehemiah's 24-year-old world junior record for the 110m hurdles. The following year he earned a bronze medal at the World Championships of Athletics and stamped himself as a medal contender for the 2004 Olympics, although he was not considered a favourite for the gold. However, in the final, Liu's technique was nearly perfect as he barely touched the sixth hurdle and cleared all of the others cleanly. He powered to a victory of almost three metres. In so doing, he tied the 11-year-old world record of 12.91 seconds. Liu was the first Chinese man to win an Olympic gold medal in athletics. Only 21 years old at the time of his victory, Liu vowed to defend his title when the Olympics come to Beijing in 2008.

 

在刘翔小的时候，他接受跳高训练，进入体校后，教练在进行骨骼测试后发现他成年后的身高无法保证他成为一名世界级的跳高运动员，因此，在体校教练的建议下，1998年刘翔开始转向跨栏训练。2002年，刘翔打破尘封24年之久的110米栏世界青年纪录。第二年，他在世界田径锦标赛上获得一枚铜牌，就此进入世界顶尖跨栏运动员行列。