A flash moment

There are quite a few shocking news lately... one of which is Liu Xiang's sudden withdrawal from the men's 110 hurdle prelim match. I am not his fan but indeed I feel pity for him.

I didn't see how it happened... but I was told about it as soon as i cam back from dinner last night.. It's not said yet why he had done so... and I didn't make any guesses either. I was just purely shocked and wanted to know what happened.

Can you imagine the pain in giving up a chance to reach the goal you have made tremendous effort for for so many years... an opportunity to realize your dream. At one point, it seems to be so close and you feel that you can almost touch it.. but in just a short time or in just a flash, it's gone.

Sometimes, reality is just cruel. Not only we don't get what we want, but also sometimes we need to face and deal with what we don't want.

Now I sort of have an idea about what's happened... One of the biggest nightmares for athletes -- Injuries. I watched replay today. Liu Xiang appeared to be suffering pains already when he warmed up himself. Of course, he should be aware of his own injuries. He was prepared to run. If there's no false start...maybe...? Any such guess would be meaningless. He chose to forfeit his opportunity to compete. It's simply heart breaking for an athlete to forfeit such an opportunity to compete. What is the ultimate pursuit/goal of an athlete? and he just had to choose to give that up at that moment.

This is the decision he made. I respect his decision and admire his courage to do so. I don't think he's a run-away. He just knew his ability and did what he believed to be the right thing to do. and that ... is no turning back.

Life is not a game. Really, there's no replay or undo. But... there's move-forward , stop or fall-back. Liu is 25 years old? so he will be 29 years old in 4 years. I guess many people will think 29 years old won't be fit to compete any more in this kind of sports that require such explosive energy. Who knows? I believe, if one believes enough in himself/herself and have the passion and willpower to pursue the dream...Belief, passion and determination can take them beyond their limits. It's really up to him to decide what is he going to do next.

I hope that he will recover soon and regroup himself. He created a legend 4 years ago. Would there be another one in 4 years? It's uncertain but there's hope. There's hope...

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There are so many opportunities in one's life. Some of them are what we want, some are not, others... we don't care. There are also so many choices we have to make and we are shaped by the choices we make each day.

At the end of the day, what do we base on to make the decisions and choices? I believe, it's truly based on our belief in what is true and right. Then, action ... and only action can prove it.