Unprecedented "Xiang Fever" in China has resulted in Olympic champion Liu Xiang and his coach being caught in a dilemma about where to train ever since the athlete set a new mark in the 110m hurdles in July.
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"Liu has been disturbed not only by some crazy fans but also people who were supposed to keep him from those disturbances such as security staff or even referees at competitions," the Liberation Daily quoted Yu Weili, assistant coach of the Chinese national athletics team.
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"So we've considered that it may be better for Liu to train abroad, in a quieter environment, and then come back for competition," he said. But Liu's coach Sun Haiping also had some concerns about training abroad.
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"It's a good idea but the problem is that Liu has to overcome jet lag twice as he returns for competition and goes back," Sun said. He and Liu are preparing for the on-going national athletics championships in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province.
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"In addition, he will compete like a foreign athlete without knowing much about the venue," he added. "So the best way is to offer him a quiet training site in China," Sun said.
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The 23-year-old Shanghai native set a new world record of 12.88 seconds in a race in Lausanne beating Colin Jackson's 13-year-old record of 12.91 after earlier tying with the mark in Athens.

(Xinhua News Agency August 7, 2006)