Hosts stunned as their big hope in the Bird's Nest is forced out

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It deprived the hosts of what was due to be their highlight of the entire Games.

Liu, the nation's sporting hero after winning the Olympic crown in Athens, was "very depressed". His coach, Sun Haiping, burst into tears as he tried to explain why Liu had to withdraw.

The hurdler pulled up and clutched his right leg as he came out of his blocks in today's heat.

As it happened, the race had to be run again because of a false start but Liu was not able to take his place in the blocks and trudged out of the stadium.

The crowd of 91,000 fans seemed utterly bemused, having seen the poster boy as their best hope to celebrate gold in the Games' iconic Bird's Nest stadium.

The trouble had erupted in the warm-up, when he stopped after negotiating two hurdles.

He crouched down, grimaced, and walked gingerly back to the start.

Chinese officials insisted that the psychological pressure of being the main hope in athletics for 1.3billion people had not been a factor.