China's best-known sprinter Hu Kai puts his eye on the Beijing
Olympic Games in two years after clocking a disappointing 10.75
seconds Saturday morning with a strained right thigh to miss the
final of the men's 100 meters at the 15th Asian Games in the
evening.
The "Flying Man of Spectacles", as he is known in China,
sustained the injury in Friday's qualifying round, where he timed
10.64 seconds trailing after the hosts Qatar's Alwaleed Abdulla
Abdulla and Kazakhstan's Vyacheslav Muravyev in the second
heat.
"It's just an overnight. I didn't have enough time to get
recovered from the injury," said Hu, who jumped to fame after
winning his international debut in the World University Games in
Izmir, Turkey, in August, 2005.
"With the injury, I did not dare to use my full strength in
getting off the mark and that prevented me from finding my rhythm
out of the blocks," he added.
But the 24-year-old, a student from the prestigious Tsinghua
University in China, who also claimed the East Asian Games title
last year, has set the goal upon the Beijing Olympics and made it
the most important in his mind.
"My target is to win a place in China's relay team and try to
get something really satisfactory in the Games. That's why I'm
performing so cautious here," said Hu.
"Nothing can be more important than keeping fit for this goal,"
he added.
Finishing last in the eight-man heat 1 of semis on Saturday
morning, Hu was denied any slim hope of advancing, while the only
other Chinese here made the semis when Wen Yongyi later put his
name in the last eight after crossing the finish line third in Heat
2.
"It's not my best performance," commented Wen, a native of
Shandong province in East China.
"Regarding to my records, reaching the final should surprise
noone," he added. "And if Hu had not injured himself, he should
have made it, too."
The 22-year-old, however, has paid more attention to the men's
4x100 meters relay on Monday, in which Hu Kai will also take part,
than Saturday evening's sprint final.
"I'll go all out this evening, and try to keep myself away from
the last finish," Wen said. "But for me, and for my team also, what
we want most is a good result from the relay. I'll make the sprint
final working as a warm-up for the relay.
"Relay is a category that we can vie for title against the
Westerns and Africans on the international stage," he added.
"Wen and I will both try our best," echoed Hu Kai.
"But for me, I'll keep myself free of injure, firstly," Hu
added.
(Xinhua News Agency December 9, 2006)