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| Liu Xiang © Action Images |
Dayron Robles's 110 metres hurdles world record will provide added motivation for Liu Xiang ahead of the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese world champion's coach Sun Haiping said.
Cuban Robles shaved a hundredth of a second off the record Liu had held for two years with his run of 12.87 seconds in the Czech Republic on Thursday, confirming his status as Olympic champion Liu's main rival for gold in Beijing.
"Certainly it's a kind of motivation for Liu and me," Sun told the official website of the Beijing Olympics (www.beijing2008.cn).
"Sport is competition. For this event, Liu led in the past but now Robles has the advantage. Therefore, we must improve ourselves again."
Liu, 24, tied Colin Jackson's world mark of 12.91 seconds when he won gold in Athens and claimed the record for himself in Lausanne two years later.
The 21-year-old Robles has been in sparkling form this year, particularly in the indoor season when he set six of the seven fastest times over 60m.
Liu's preparations for Beijing have been disrupted by a hamstring problem and a disqualification, which kept him out of the last two major races he planned to run before the Games.
Sun said the new mark would not affect the way Liu planned to prepare for his Olympic title defence.
"I will not make any big changes to our training schedule. There is not much time left," he said.
"We haven't lost our confidence. Lots of aspects affect a race and Liu Xiang will never lose his confidence because of a new record."
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