World, Olympic champion McLeod vows to do Shanghai hurdle hero Liu proud

World and Olympic hurdles champion Omar McLeod wants to put on a blistering display in Shanghai on Saturday in homage to the Chinese city’s athletics hero Liu Xiang.

Liu is retired but remains a Chinese sports icon because his 2004 Olympic hurdles gold medal was the country’s first in men’s track and field.

Liu, now 34, was also a 2007 world champion, though his brilliant career petered out because of persistent injury and he retired in 2015.

But Chinese spectators may see shades of Liu in McLeod during Saturday’s Diamond League meeting – the affable Jamaican certainly hopes so.

McLeod, who is chasing a third successive 110m victory in Shanghai, said on Friday, “they show a good appreciation for hurdles here and I want to go out there and show my appreciation for their appreciation of hurdles.

“Liu Xiang was one of the reasons why I got into running in the streets and race and hurdle.

“He was just an inspiration and I’ve heard that I hurdle just like him, so I draw a lot from him,” said the 24-yearold McLeod.

There will meanwhile be home hope in the men’s 100m in the form of reigning Shanghai champion Su Bingtian, the world indoor 60m silver medalist and China’s fastest man, and Xie Zhenye. But they will have to upstage current world champion Justin Gatlin of the US.

Also in a strong field is the Canadian speedster Andre De Grasse, who is working his way back from a nine-month hamstring injury layoff that ruled him out of last year’s world championships.