China's 110m hurdles world record holder Liu Xiang will skip next year's Golden League series in Europe to continue his preparations for the Beijing Olympics, local media reported yesterday.

"The Golden League Oslo stop will clash with other competitions on our schedule, and the Rome and Paris stops will be so close to the Olympic Games, so we have decided not to take part," China Daily quoted Liu's coach, Sun Haiping, as saying.

Liu, who won gold at the Athens Olympics and is China's main hope for an athletics gold in 2008, will use the World Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain as his first major tournament next season.

The 24-year-old will kick off his outdoor competitions in Osaka followed by a test event at the 2008 Olympics athletics venue in Beijing in May, said Sun.

After a few warm-up meets in Europe and the United States, Liu will remain in Beijing from the end of June to focus on his preparations for the Olympics, which start on August 8.

"Liu's level of physical strength has reached the top now. I'm confident about our further training," he said.

Sun did not expect Liu to win all his races next year but was confident of gold at the Olympics.

"The gold medal at the Beijing Olympics is what we will strive for with every effort," he said.