The Doha World Championships was the first international event that Liu Xiang participated in after his comeback. Both before and after the competition, I have consistently believed that Liu Xiang's participation was merely symbolic. Whether he participated or not, the result would be the same. The 60-meter hurdles race would not bring joy to the Chinese team; it would only provide more topics for the media. Nowadays, Liu Xiang is no longer a true athlete in the real sense. In fact, he has become an entertainment figure, reduced to being an "Entertainment Brother."
We could see from the 2008 Beijing Olympics that Liu Xiang's participation in the Beijing Olympics was only symbolic. His sudden withdrawal at the beginning of the competition fooled not only the Chinese but also people around the world. His reason for withdrawal was attributed to a severe injury, yet we had not heard about any significant injuries prior to the event. There is only one reason: even without the injury, Liu Xiang could not have won the championship because of the emergence of athletes like Robert. As a result, Liu Xiang could only be regarded as second-rate, and the world champion title had already moved away from him. To maintain the image of a flying man in the hearts of the Chinese, the plot of withdrawing due to injury was fabricated. After the Olympics, instead of seeking treatment domestically, which could have been done in China, Liu Xiang went to the United States for treatment to indicate the severity of his injury. There are two reasons for this. One is that if treated domestically, there would be concerns that the injury might not be serious. The second reason is that Chinese people traditionally have a tendency to admire foreign things, believing that medical technology abroad is better. Therefore, Liu Xiang went to the U.S. for treatment, providing new topics for the media and even the entertainment industry.
At last year's Shanghai Golden League, when world-class athletes like Dayron Robles were absent, our "Entertainment Brother" Liu Xiang saw an opportunity for victory, and his injury seemed to recover just in time. Thus, he participated in the Shanghai Golden League. However, contrary to expectations, Liu Xiang only managed to secure the runner-up position (in fact, even if he had won the championship, it wouldn't have been a world championship since it was just an invitational tournament). In the National Games, Liu Xiang naturally participated because he still had no rivals in China. Subsequently, in the two major Asian events, Liu Xiang achieved three consecutive championships, which were heavily hyped by the media and the entertainment industry. At this point, his injury conveniently disappeared. However, with the arrival of the Year of the Tiger, Liu Xiang did not demonstrate the expected vigor but rather became a sick tiger. Unexpectedly, he finished fourth in a domestic indoor competition in Shanghai, and his injury inexplicably worsened at this time. Therefore, in this first participation in the Doha International Indoor Championships, the worsening of his injury first came into focus, naturally leading people to associate it with the inability to win the championship due to injury. However, we who are not sports professionals all know that even if Liu Xiang's past glorious achievements were still intact, he could not possibly win the world championship. How much more so now that Liu Xiang's glory has faded, his psychological burden has increased day by day, his age is gradually advancing, and he has become accustomed to praise and glory, making him unable to withstand setbacks. Therefore, failing to win the championship always requires corresponding reasons. Even if Liu Xiang treats every match as a final, barely entering the semi-finals and finals, he ultimately ends up finishing second-to-last in the final. Haha, he finally secured a runner-up position, albeit in reverse order.
Since the Beijing Olympics, the media has had too many topics about Liu Xiang. However, our media overly focuses on his injuries, his emotions, what kind of girlfriend he should find, how much his discarded clothes are worth, how his advertising career is progressing, etc. In fact, these topics are all entertainment-related. Therefore, it is indeed more accurate to say that Liu Xiang has fallen into the category of "Entertainment Brother." For an athlete who has become an "Entertainment Brother," regaining the world championship seems to be just a distant memory for Liu Xiang.
New and strong competitors continue to emerge, while Liu Xiang is gradually aging. It is a natural law that later waves push the former ones onto the beach and eventually bury them. Moreover, since Liu Xiang has already become an "Entertainment Brother," it seems that the world championship can only reappear in entertainment. Apparently, retirement is the best choice for Liu Xiang! Perhaps focusing on entertainment will give him a brighter future!