By Wu Huaiting

China's star hurdler Liu Xiang, who limped off the field with an Achilles' tendon injury before pulling out of the Beijing Olympics last year, is back in the game, running in the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix last night, his first race since withdrawing from the Olympic Games. For most Chinese audience members, his winning is not the most important thing. The fact that Liu has been able to come back and compete again amid great pressure is a victory itself.

As the first Asian to win a gold medal in an Olympic track event, Liu was widely celebrated as a national hero and symbol of China's ability to compete with Europeans and Americans in events that require speed and sophisticated technique. His withdrawal from the Beijing Olympics was more than just a miss of a gold medal for most people. It was a blow to their pride in China's newly rising strength.

In the past 13 months, Liu has had to face sharp criticism and his every move has been under the microscope. In such a hostile environment, it would be natural for Liu to think of the option of leaving the track field forever and returning to a normal life.

However, Liu chose to stay and compete despite all the criticism and pressure. If we admired Liu before the Beijing Olympics as an inspiration to the nation, proving that we could achieve our dreams, this time we applaud his fortitude to bounce back despite the great pressure.

In some sense, the courage of not giving up and the persistence of self-challenge are more important than the simple talent for racing or the shinning gold medals.

The unbending will and the constant challenge to human limits are the very essence of sports, as embedded in the Olympic motto of "Citius, Altius, Fortius,"a Latin expression meaning "Faster, Higher, Stronger."

At this stage, we should not expect too much from Liu Xiang. His return to the field already shows his courage. As Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin, founder of the International Olympic Committee and father of the modern Olympic Games, famouly stated: "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle."

At the same time, we should also alleviate the burden of politics on our athletes. Even though the Olympic Games do carry the significance of China's century of hope for a strong nation, athletes should not be viewed as the sole bearers of such dreams.

The overemphasis on the political side of sports gives our athletes unnecessary pressure and stress, which in turn could hurt their performance.

Liu's withdrawal, to some extent, was a tragedy resulting from the overpoliticalization of the competition.

Let's just view sports as sports, a form of entertainment and a kind of physical competition that brings out athletes' best.