People will meet all kinds of opponents in their life. Hurdler Liu Xiang's view is: without opponents, there is no motivation. He therefore thanked his opponents, who had become his goal in hurdles and inspired him to keep moving forward. The following is an excerpt from I am Liu Xiang published by Shanghai Sanlian Bookstore.

Ever since I played glass ball as a child, I have been surprisingly competitive. If others are better than me, I will be better than others. I don't know if this will affect my future career in hurdling, but I think it is always a good thing to set a goal for myself.

When I first joined Sun's coaching team, I was the youngest and the worst in the team, and most of my brothers had titles. And my goal is finally locked in my brother Shen Zhensheng who runs the 11-meter hurdles with me.

Shen Zhensheng is two years older than me. From 1997 to 1998, he broke the national juvenile hurdle record three times, and the worst thing is that he won the 11m hurdles championship in the 1998 World Middle School Games, which was the world champion!

I can't remember how many evenings I stayed to practice alone. Actually, I wanted to play with Shen Zhensheng and others, but I knew I couldn't. My foundation is much worse than others. If I want to surpass others, I must pay twice as much sweat and effort.

The official confrontation with Shen Zhensheng was actually the national track and field grand prix more than a month after I joined the team, that is, the time when I ran the "master" class in 14 seconds and 18 seconds. That time, Shen Zhensheng was only .1 second faster than me! Although a little sorry, I have a strong feeling: "I can surpass him!" I can! " Strange to say, every time I feel this way, I will really surpass my opponent in the next competition, such as the confrontation with Chen Yanhao and Johnson.

Sure enough, in the 2 National Track and Field Grand Prix in Nanjing, I ran 14.6 seconds and won the second place, while Shen Zhensheng ran 14.27 seconds. I really passed him!

at that time, perhaps subconsciously, I began to pay attention to another person's name, which was written in the first place in the Nanjing race: Chen yanhao.

......

The name Chen Yanhao sounded like Jordan's name to those who practiced hurdling at that time, at least in China. At that time, Chen Yanhao began to dominate the whole country and even Asia for nearly six years from 1993, and no one could surpass him. And he is also a disciple of my master Sun Haiping, and he can be said to be my big brother.

Before that, my fights with Chen Yanhao ended in my failure, but in that grand prix, although I still lost to Chen Yanhao and won the second place, I was only .3 second behind him. In my mind, I had the strange feeling when I competed with Shen Zhensheng at the beginning: "I will definitely surpass the big brother, and I will definitely be able to do it next time!"

After I came back from the competition in Guangdong, I worked very hard every day. Sometimes, even Sun Haiping, the master, couldn't understand the degree of training. He sometimes jokingly said to me, "I can't see it. Why did you practice so hard at once?" I smiled and didn't answer. But I know what's going on in my heart-when something you've been looking forward to for a long time and thought was far away, it suddenly becomes within reach, and that urgent mood will be transformed into what kind of great motivation.

Only ten days later, the National Track and Field Grand Prix moved to Ningbo, and Chen Yanhao and I, as rivals, stood on the runway again. Last time, my strange intuition was true. In 13.45 seconds, I overtook Chen Yanhao and won the championship. Chen Yanhao's score is only .2 second slower than mine, but, after all, I won.

This is the first time that I have surpassed Chen Yanhao. Although I have some psychological preparation, I still can't believe it at one time. This is true.

If the last battle in Ningbo can be regarded as an occasional miss by Chen Yanhao, then this time, he must go all out. Similarly, as for me, if I won by luck last time, I must beat him again to really prove my strength.

May 6th, I clearly remember this day. The sky is gray, and it is drizzling again, which is exactly the same as the weather on the day when I participated in the adult competition for the first time and reached the standard of an athlete. This time, will I play beyond my level?

The broadcast sound of the 11m hurdles final is about to start. Almost all the audience turned their eyes to Chen Yanhao and me, and the people in the stadium even surrounded the runway with a shout. Suddenly, there were dark crowds on both sides of the runway.

"bam!" The starting gun rang, and my mind suddenly thought of nothing but one word: run! Run! Run! One column, two columns, three, four ... I can clearly feel that Chen Yanhao is in a position almost parallel to me, and he is also trying to fly forward. When I crossed the finish line, I felt that I was parallel to him. Perhaps, I was a little faster, just a little bit … but I was not sure at all.

The score finally came out. My score was 13.32 seconds, and his score was 13.37 seconds, which was .5 seconds faster. I won!

In this way, it seems that I defeated Chen Yanhao overnight. Later, in the Ninth National Games, I won the 11m hurdles champion .6 second faster than Chen Yanhao. Many media said that I surpassed Chen Yanhao from then on, but only I knew clearly that the real transcendence was the Shanghai race on May 6, 21. I fulfilled my biggest wish after I joined Sun's coaching team. It was a seemingly insurmountable goal, but I did it!

allen johnson's name has been known for a long time. I think everyone who practices hurdling knows his name, just as a football player knows Bailey and a basketball player knows Jordan.

As a matter of fact, I have always cared about Johnson. I know that he used to practice long jump like me, but an injury to his left leg ligament made him choose the hurdle. I feel lucky for him. If he really practices long jump, there will be one less king in the hurdle world. Among the 2 results in the 11m hurdles that are faster than 13 seconds, he created 9! He is a well-deserved "hurdling king".

When I first practiced hurdling, I didn't expect to see Johnson one day. It must be admitted that he has become an idol of mine. In my opinion, he is a distant mountain, and the day when I reach the foot of the mountain is far away, let alone crossing it.

I clearly remember the International Athletics Championships held in Edmonton in 21, which was the first time I met Johnson.

It's a pity that I was still a little immature at that time. Although I ran for 13 seconds and 51 seconds, I basically played my own level, but this achievement is too common in the world. That's why I didn't make it to the final. I can only feel Johnson's lightning speed as a spectator. That time, he won the championship with a score of 13.4 seconds. I secretly asked myself, "Liu Xiang, can you run as fast as him in the future?"

As soon as the game was over, I found Johnson and asked him to sign my name. Then, I took a photo with him. Johnson is very polite and friendly to me. I know that asking for his autograph and asking for a group photo is actually what his FANS will do, and I am his opponent, so it is not very "face". But I don't care. I admire the strong. Johnson is the strong in my hurdling world. Even if I admit that he is my idol, I am not embarrassed.

In 22, I participated in the International Indoor Athletics Championships held in Athens, Greece. It was the first time I stood shoulder to shoulder with Johnson on the runway, and it was the first time I competed with him. But it's really a pity that I fell down when I crossed the second hurdle in that competition, and I didn't finish the competition at all. All I could see was Johnson's back.

As my grades gradually improved, Johnson and I had more and more face-to-face "moves". Sometimes, looking back at that period of history, I can't help but feel a little discouraged. Throughout 23, Johnson and I competed for nearly 1 times, and I was completely wiped out without a victory. But what we can see is that my grades have gradually improved from hovering in the fourth and fifth places to being among the top three. More often, I have always won the second place, while Johnson has always been the first.

There is no doubt that at that time, Johnson still stood in front of me like a mountain, but I vaguely felt that this mountain was far from being as distant as it was at the beginning. I even felt that I had stood at the foot of the mountain, and the next thing to do was to climb it!

May 8, 24, Osaka, Japan, IAAF Grand Prix.

the day I've been waiting for has finally arrived.

I ran in 13.6 seconds, while Johnson's score was 13.13 seconds. I defeated Johnson face to face for the first time. Earlier in Lausanne, Switzerland, I ran 13.12 seconds and beat him 13.17 seconds, but at that time we were not in the same group, so it was not face to face, and I didn't feel like beating him at all.

However, when I was the first to cross the finish line and let Johnson see my back for the first time, it was strange that I was not particularly excited. Although, I ran 13.6 seconds, breaking my original Asian record of 13.12 seconds, which was also the best result in the world that year.

But amid the shouts of tens of thousands of spectators, I'm still a little confused: I beat Johnson? Is it true?/You don't say.

it was Johnson who made me realize that this is true. After the game, he was the first to come to me. It was the same friendly smile. He patted me on the shoulder and said, "Well done, congratulations!" " At that moment, I just came to my senses. All this is true. I defeated the world "hurdler king"! ;