BEIJING - The coach of China's world record 110m hurdler Liu Xiang fears mental pressure or a sudden injury could hamper¹ the athlete's chances of defending his Olympic title in front of his own fans next year.

Liu Xiang of China (L) celebrates as he wins the 110 meters hurdles2 ahead of Allen Johnson of the U.S (R) during the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix athletics3 meet in Shanghai September 23, 2006. [Reuters]

Since recovering from a foot injury early last year, Liu set a new world mark of 12.88 seconds at a grand prix meeting in Lausanne in July and finished a successful season with a gold medal performance at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha.

However, the runner's coach Sun Haiping believes Liu's status as the poster boy of Chinese athletics meant he would need to develop thicker skin to focus on victory in Beijing.

"Since taking gold (at Athens) in 2004, he's really been through a lot, including upsets and bouts⁴ of depression," Sun told Friday's China Daily.

"He's dealing⁵ with the pressure quite well, but I'm afraid the intense training programme we've got lined up and other activities will have an impact."

Sports officials have gone to great lengths to protect Liu from the burden of expectations.

The Chinese Athletics Association had assigned two doctors to care for the 23-year-old, where one doctor would usually cover the whole team, the paper said.

Despite the protection, Sun is still wary⁶ of the dangers a serious injury could pose.

"Liu does not have any injuries now and his training is going smoothly," he added.

"But we worry what could happen to him in one and a half years.

"We're afraid that if he gets injured it could all be a wasted effort and he will miss the chance to take gold on home soil."

Last November, China's General Administration of Sports banned Liu and other Olympic medal hopefuls from participating in public relations events to avoid distractions⁷ from training.