Champ Liu Xiang sets Bird's Nest alight in Olympics rehearsal

BEIJING (AFP) - World champion hurdler Liu Xiang triggered a wave of adulation here Thursday as he helped put China's new National Stadium through a full dress rehearsal for the Beijing Olympic Games.

National hero Liu, 24, the first Chinese man to win an Olympic track and field gold medal, barely broke into a sweat as he won his heat in the 110m hurdles in a relaxed 13.63sec.

But the man who captured Chinese hearts by winning an Olympic gold four years ago, setting a new world record two years ago, and then winning a world title last August, only had to appear on the track to send the 22,000 spectators into a fit of wild cheering.

"I was not disturbed by the cheers," he said. The race "absorbed me completely."

But he said posting a fast time was not a priority less than two weeks after a major earthquake killed more than 50,000 of his compatriots in southwestern China.

"I have also been focusing on the quake these days," said Liu, as he issued an appeal for help for the victims.

Liu has led the way among China's sporting personalities by donating three million yuan (430,000 dollars) to the quake relief fund and has made a separate contribution of of 500,000 yuan together with his manager Sun Haiping.

"But one person's power is limited. We can join hands to overcome the disaster," he said.

Liu and about 1,000 others including more than 100 overseas competitors are taking part in the four-day China Athletics Open Championship, which runs until Sunday at the spectacular new National Stadium, better known as the Bird's Nest.

The competition at the 90,000-seater structure of interwoven steel beams, which will be the centrepiece of the August 8-24 Beijing Games, was preceded by one minute of silence for victims of the May 12 quake.

International Olympic Committee vice president Kevan Gosper was at the stadium for the start of competition and said later he was amazed at the quality of the organisation of the event.

"It went like clockwork," said Gosper of the early rounds of competition that included heats of track and field events.

"The athletes of the world will be excited out of their minds when they come here in August," the Australian official added.

Liu will return to the track on Friday and is expected back again for the final on Saturday.

More than 22,000 spectators turned out for the evening session on Thursday, most attracted by Liu. Organisers said more were expected Friday and that Saturday was a sell-out.

For Liu, his first heat on Thursday was a valuable chance to test the Mondo rubberised Olympic track surface for the first time.

"It reaches international standards," he said afterwards. "It is not too soft and not too hard."

The competition is one of more than 40 test events for Olympic venues which Beijing officials have organised over the past 10 months to aid their preparations for staging the Games.

"This will allow us to identify problem areas and prepare the best we can for the Olympics," said Chen Shuxun, the venue media manager.

The stadium has already hosted an international race walk and an international marathon in April.

But the scale of the athletics championship is much bigger and more complex, with organisers squeezing an entire nine-day Olympic track and field tournament into just four days.