Here is official results.
Men's 110m Hurdles Final: LIU (CHN) wins, equals the world record 27 Aug. 2004
ATHENS, 26 August - LIU Xiang (CHN) won the men's 110m hurdles in style equalling Colin JACKSON's (GBR) 11-year-old world record of 12.91 seconds from Stuttgart World Championships in 1993.
The 21-year-old Chinese, who took the bronze medal in Paris World Championships last summer, won the race with a huge margin of 0.27 seconds before silver medallist Terrence TRAMMELL (USA), who duplicated his silver medal position from Sydney 2000. The winning margin is the biggest since the Seoul Olympics in 1988, where Roger KINGDOM (USA) won with 12.98 to Jackson's silver medal performance of 13.28.
The young Chinese, who entered the final as a favourite together with Frenchman Ladji DOUCOURE, both with personal bests of 13.06 this season, was already clear of the others over the first hurdle. This despite the fact that TRAMMELL had false started and anyone could have been disqualified for a second false start.
LIU thundered over the hurdles and looked a clear winner right from the start. The other favourite, also 21years old, DOUCOURE, it was not a pleasant night. The Frenchman lost his rhythm in the start of the race, but still managed to somehow find his way back to the fight for the silver medal near the end of the race. However, he continued hitting hurdles badly and finally crashed into 9th and 10th hurdles ending up almost falling down and finished the race as 8th and last in 13.76.
LIU looked to have perfect hurdling technique over the hurdles not hitting them, but going just narrowly over. Although a clear winner at the 10th hurdle, LIU still produced a blazing fast flat until the finish line to equal the world record of 12.91. But the Chinese did not stop at the line, he continued running, waving to the crowd with arms raised in celebration and a big smile on his face.
The track side clock read 12.94 which would have been an Olympic record. He was half way around the track before he realised he had equalled the world record.
Behind TRAMMELL, with DOUCOURE struggling, the reigning Olympic Champion Anier GARCIA (CUB), who was nowhere near the contenders for the medals prior to the Games, just dipped ahead of semifinal winner Maurice WIGNALL (JAM), grabbing the bronze medal in 13.20, a season's best. The Jamaican ran 13.21.
Stanislavs OLIJARS (LAT) was given the same time of 13.21 for fifth place and Charles ALLEN (CAN), who ran a relay heat just prior to the hurdles final, was sixth in 13.48. Mateus INOCENCIO (BRA) finished in seventh place with a time of 13.49.
ONS mj/pg
