Liu Xiang arrives in Guangzhou for 18th Asian Athletics Championships

GUANGZHOU, South China, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- China's star hurdler Liu Xiang arrived here on Monday to attend the 18th Asian Athletics Championships.

China's star hurdler Liu Xiang arrived in Guangzhou on Monday to attend the 18th Asian Athletics Championships. (Xinhua Photo)

The 26-year-old former Olympic champion , who once shattered the world record in 12.88 seconds at an IAAF meet in Lausanne, Switzerland in 2006, is expected to win his third gold medal at the Asian Athletics Championships.

His world record was broken by Cuba's Dayron Robles with 12.87 in an IAAF Grand Prix meeting in Ostrava, Czech Republic in 2008.

Liu was the first Chinese man to win a track and field Olympic gold medal in Athens and became the world champion in 2007 World Athletics Championships in Japan.

The super star withdrew from the Beijing Olympic Games due to injuries. He suffered from a recurrence of chronic inflammation in his right Achilles tendon, which ruled him out of the following year's major competition, 2009 World Championships.