When Aries Merritt shot out of the blocks to deny Liu Xiang victory in the 60-meter hurdles, he clinched more than just an unlikely victory. The American hurdler, who was thought to have little chance against the Chinese great, won the title and cemented a record gold medal haul for the U.S. team at the world indoor championships.
北京时间3月11日,第14届世界室内田径锦标赛在土耳其伊斯坦布尔进行男子60米栏决赛。美国选手梅里特以7秒44获得冠军,中国选手刘翔则在第二个栏出现了失误,以7秒49获得亚军。
Merritt set the pace in his final. Fastest out of the blocks, he even got the better of Liu, the 2004 Olympic champion who was trying out a new start with one step less to the first hurdle to keep the opposition at bay.
本次室内世锦赛,刘翔的主要对手罗伯斯、奥利弗等都缺阵,唯一能给刘翔带来压力的仅是美国选手梅里特。正是这位美国小将,在与刘翔的直接对决中,拿到了自己的第一个世界冠军。“梅里特的最好成绩也达到了7秒43,他在比赛中也非常拼,恭喜他,这是他第一个世界冠军。”输掉比赛的刘翔显得十分大度,并没有轻视这名后起之秀。
When Liu saw the blur of Merritt, it immediately unsettled him."I knew Aries Merritt is a fast starter," Liu said. "So I got out in a rush and was not able to control my technique."
在决赛中,刘翔的起跑出现了一些问题,导致第二个栏时碰到了栏,使得速度下降,7秒49的成绩并不能令刘翔感到满意。“起跑反应有点慢,过了第一个栏就想迅速加起来,结果在第二个栏碰到了脚。”刘翔在分析当时的情况时说,“没什么感受,自己没有发挥好,还是有点遗憾。我对第二名的名次还是很满意的,但对成绩不是很满意。”