Woods and Liu Xiang meet in Beijing to inspire youth

Xinhua, April 14, 2011

U.S. golf great Tiger Woods and Chinese star hurdler Liu Xiang met students of Beijing Sports University on Wednesday.

Woods, who is in China on Nike's "Make it Matter" golf promotional tour, and Liu shared their experiences and inspired youth in China to free their minds and take on difficulties and challenges.

As one of the most successful and celebrated golfers in history, Woods' emergence and success raised golf's profile into that of a global sport. In his 15-year career, Tiger has won 14 major championships, 97 tournaments, 71 of those on the PGA Tour.

"No matter what the results are, I will always be confident in myself when I am on the green. When I am out there, I have only one goal - to defeat them all," Woods told a group of students.

What Woods said struck a chord with Liu. In a sport that is traditionally not a Chinese stronghold, Liu won gold in major competitions such as the Olympic Games in Athens and IAAF World Championships, which propelled China's status in the sport of track and field.

After his shock withdrawal at the 2008 Olympic Games, Liu underwent numerous operations and rehabilitation, and eventually returned to the field with renewed resolve. He won the third straight gold medal at the Asian Games last year.

Liu admitted that the road to recovery was immensely tough, filled with unimaginable pressure and pain both physically and mentally, but it also opened his eyes to the ways to take on hardships, to disregard pressure and judgment from others, to forget about success and failure, and to believe in oneself.

"Every time you break out of a bottleneck point, you go beyond yourself. Every challenge of this kind is an opportunity to strengthen and reinvent yourself," said Liu.

The "Make It Matter" tour, which kicked off Tuesday in Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong Province and also includes South Korea, is aimed at promoting golf in Asia.