Thursday, March 24, 2005

A Taste of the Real Thing, and Now Officially Studied in the Classroom

The rise of the national celebrity status and stardom of Olympic champion Liu Xiang is inexorable. Modern popular icons such as Madonna, Brad Pitt, David Beckham for example might have the international scene sewn-up but what does the 21 year-old Shanghai sprint hurdling star care about that, for economically he has a home market of over one billion Chinese nestling in the palm of his hand.

Top three national star

Named last week as Laureus China Sportsman of the Year thanks to his historic victory at last year's Athens Olympic Games, Liu Xiang who brought China it�s first ever men�s Olympic track and field title in Athens when he stormed to the men's 110m Hurdles gold in a World record-equalling time of 12.91 is now officially one of the top three celebrities in China.

Liu Xiang received the "Chinese Sports Oscar" award on Wednesday 17 March from American 400m hurdling legend Edwin Moses, Chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy, which had helped to launch the China award. Yet Moses who bestrode the world of one lap hurdling in the late 1970�s and early 1980�s taking two World and two Olympic titles, and setting four World records, can only ever have dreamt of the level of national recognition in the USA at the height of his career that the young Chinese star already enjoys in his own home land at the very infancy of his rise to fame and fortune.

Also last week, Forbes� "2005 Chinese Top Celebrities List," was published, with NBA (basketball) centre Yao Ming, screen star Zhang Ziyi, and Liu Xiang clinching the first three spots and outdistancing, by a strikingly large margin, their peers from the Chinese entertainment and sports industry. Yao Ming headed the list with earnings reported to be 150 million yuan (over eighteen million US$), with Zhang Ziyi second, 35 million yuan (over 4 million US$), yet most strikingly of all Liu Xiang leapt from 90th to third place in this year's tally, earning an estimated 23 million yuan (over two and three quarter million US$).

Officially a classroom text

Appropriately, Shanghai which is the business hub of China, has recognised Liu Xiang�s economic rise and under direction from the city authorities has included the story of the Olympic gold medallist, in course material for students in 40 elementary schools in his native city. As such a 900-Chinese character story on his Olympic victory, entitled "Leaping into the new century" has appeared in a newly-updated text book for Grade Five students.

"Since Liu's heroic deeds inspired people long after the Olympic Games, we changed the original editing plan a little bit and added his story into the textbook," one of the editors of the book was quoted as saying by the Xinhua News Agency. "We hope Liu will be a positive example for students."

There is no doubting that wherever Liu Xiang goes he is at the centre of media and spectator attention in China.

"We should be thankful for the attention Liu draws from all, but we hope people will give more free and relaxed space for him to develop," said Feng Shuyong, vice-director of China Athletics Administrative Centre. "If we want to see Liu achieve better results, we should guard him from outside interruptions."

At the end of January Liu Xiang appeared in a TV commercial for one of the world�s most recognised brands, Coca Cola, in a shoot reported to have cost almost 100 million yuan (over twelve million US$).

Both physically and economically it was a taste of the �real thing� for the young star, for it is clear that with the prospect of more sporting success at the World Championships this summer, and with the 2008 Beijing Olympics already on the horizon, it won�t be Liu Xiang�s last commercial activity. In a world dominated by the culture of celebrity this newly born national star is clearly set to step on to the commercial world stage and with the sporting talent to match the possibilities are infinite.

(by Chris Turner for the IAAF, photo by Getty images)

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