Multi-millionaire hurdler Liu Xiang has decided to initially snub living conditions at the athletes village when he arrives to the Guangzhou Asiad on Monday,state press reported. The former Olympic champion in the 110 metre hurdles will stay near Guangzhou's posh central busines district on the Pearl River's Erping Island as he undergoes fine tuning before his races,Nanjing's Modern Express said. The 27-year-old,who disappointed millions of fans by pulling up lame in a preliminary 110m hurdles heat at the 2008 Beijing Olympics,is seeking his third Asiad title here. He is scheduled to race in a 110m hurdles preliminary heat on November 22,ahead of the finals two days later. He will move into the Asian Games Town on November 20,the Modern Express said. The 27-year-old remains a focal point of the Asiad despite the lingering injury that has kept him from the explosive form that won him an Olympic gold medal in Athens in 2004 and once carried him to a world record. "Liu Xiang's training has continued to be gradual,he is having no problems in fulfilling his training regime," the paper quoted Liu's coach Sun Haiping as saying. "His recovery from injury is not going badly. In the past two days we have reduced the amount of training because he will soon race and he needs to make some adjustments." Sun predicted that Liu could win a gold medal if he can clock a time of 13.30 seconds at the Asiad. Liu once held the world record in the event with a time of 12.88 seconds. According to Chinese press reports last month,the hurdler recently said that 16 commercial endorsements mostly signed ahead of the Beijing Olympics has left him with 200 million yuan (30 million dollars) in the bank. Liu,who was recruited into a specialist sports school at the age of 12,still earns 1,062 yuan a month as a member of China's national track and field team,the reports said.
