Coach hails Liu's 'miracle' return

Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang's return to competition after a career-threatening injury is little short of miraculous, according to his coach.

The former world and Olympic champion was sidelined for 13 months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn Achilles that forced him to pull out of his heat at the Beijing Olympics.

The 26-year-old finished second in an IAAF Golden Grand Prix in his home city of Shanghai in September before winning gold at last month's Asian athletics championships.

"Many athletes have not been able to make it back to the track after injuring their Achilles tendon," Liu's coach Sun Haiping told the China Daily yesterday.

"Some doctors from Shanghai were gloomy about Liu's injury at the beginning but now they are amazed by his convalescence.

"The recovery has been almost perfect. It's a miracle and even his American doctor said so."