Former 110m hurdles world record holder Liu Xiang recently ignited a massive national controversy following a highly publicized social media plea. The 43-year-old Olympic champion revealed that government authorities finally presented him with a difficult career ultimatum 11 years after his official retirement. The track legend specifically utilized his platform to crowdsource advice regarding this unexpected bureaucratic mandate.

Liu posted a direct message to his millions of followers on Weibo on August 26.

“Waiting online. I’ve encountered a problem: I hope netizens can give me some advice….What should I do?” Liu wrote.

He attached a photo of his iconic race bib numbered 1363 from his 2004 Athens Olympic victory to highlight the timing. This social media outcry directly stems from a frustrating set of newly presented employment options.

The Shanghai Sports Bureau ordered the retired athlete to either accept a one-time financial settlement or immediately return to work as a full-time coach. Liu expressed extreme hesitation regarding the coaching option due to his complete lack of professional instructional experience. He explicitly vented his frustrations regarding the restrictive nature of his ongoing government affiliation later that same night.

“I have never left. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to leave, but because you didn’t let me leave,” he wrote.

He then pointed to the length of time that had passed.

“Ten years later, suddenly they want to ‘place’ me,” Liu said. Even the second option given to him was unacceptable. He said he was unfamiliar with the term being used for the settlement.

“A buyout – that’s an old-fashioned term, I don’t understand it. So I’m also confused,” Liu wrote. “There is no third path for me to choose,” he said, explaining that his request for public advice was genuine because he really did not know which decision to make.

Soon after, the Shanghai Sports Bureau responded to Liu’s post. The bureau said that Liu was an outstanding Shanghai athlete who had made major contributions to the city’s sports development. It also confirmed that the Shanghai Competitive Sports Training Management Center had spoken with him that afternoon about his post-retirement arrangements.

According to the bureau, the matter would be handled under existing regulations through either organizational placement or independent employment. But Liu did not simply accept the bureau’s explanation. “According to regulations? Which regulation are you referring to?” he wrote in a comment.

He then raised another question about how his affairs had been handled during his years away from competition.

“Why didn’t you settle me according to the law and regulations when it came to distributing advertising fees?”

For now, Liu has not announced which option he will choose.

“ Ten years have passed, and things have changed. Hesitation will only lead to future troubles. Life is about letting go,” Liu wrote. His final words on the matter reflected the uncertainty surrounding the situation.

For someone who achieved so much and gave Chinese athletics some of its proudest moments, seeing Liu Xiang face such uncertainty more than a decade after retirement is difficult.

A historic career changed by devastating injuries

Liu’s rise began in the early 2000s. In 2001, he won the 110m hurdles at the World University Games in Beijing, before taking another major step forward the following year. At the 2002 Athletissima meeting in Lausanne, he ran 13.12 seconds, setting an Asian record and breaking the world junior record that had stood for years. He also won Asian Games gold in Busan that same year.

His breakthrough on the world stage came in 2003, when he won bronze in the 110m hurdles at the World Championships in Paris. A year later, he produced the performance that changed his place in Chinese sporting history. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Liu won the 110m hurdles in 12.91 seconds. He equaled the world record and became the first Chinese male athlete to win an Olympic athletics gold medal. 

In 2007, he added another major achievement by winning the world title in Osaka. The following year, he became world indoor champion in the 60m hurdles. His career, however, was also marked by some of the most painful moments in Chinese sport. An Achilles injury kept him out of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, denying him the chance to defend his Olympic title in front of a home crowd. He fought his way back to competition and won another Asian Games title in 2010 before taking world championship silver in 2011.

Then came the 2012 London Olympics. Liu hit the first hurdle in his opening heat and suffered another serious Achilles injury. He never returned to the same level. After years of injuries and rehabilitation, he announced his retirement on April 7, 2015. Retirement did not mean Liu disappeared from public life. He continued his education, studying sports management at East China Normal University, and took part in youth, charity and sports-related activities.