Hong Kong (CNN)—Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang, the first man from his country to win an Olympic gold medal in track and field and a former world-record holder, announced his retirement Tuesday due to injury.

"I have to leave you right now, although I hate to give up," he said on his official Weibo account, the "you" referring to hurdling. "I am really 'old' and 'sick.'

"I want to start a new journey. I will end my professional sports career and formally retire from today.

"This is an informed decision ... I have no other choice."

Last week, Shanghai newspaper Xinmin News reported that Liu would indeed formally hang up his boots Tuesday, and his public declaration makes him the third recently retired Chinese superstar athlete after former NBA player Yao Ming and tennis champion Li Na.

Liu said that he plans to finish his education to enrich himself, engage in anything beneficial to the development of Chinese youth physical education and the improvement of national health, and foster Chinese influence on track and field internationally.

A Shanghai native, the 31-year-old Liu trained as a high jumper initially but switched to hurdling.

The move paid off.

Liu first made it to the world stage in 2001 by winning the 110-meter hurdles at the East Asian Games and World University Games. He also reached the semifinals of the World Championships that year.

His GREatest victory came at the 2004 Athens Olympics when Liu easily won the 110-meter hurdles and tied Colin Jackson's 11-year-old world record with a time of 12.91 seconds. He became a senSATion in China.

Liu went on, hitting his career peak at the 2006 IAAF Grand Prix meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland by setting a new world record of 12.88 seconds. A year later he won his maiden world championship gold in Osaka.

While Liu kept making waves around the globe, he was increasingly plagued by an Achilles injury, which culminated in him pulling up in a false start in a heat at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It left his home audience dumbstruck.

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香港（CNN） - 中国第一块奥运会男子田径项目金牌得主，前世界纪录保持者，跨栏运动员——刘翔，因为伤病在星期二宣布退役。

“我现在不得不离开你，虽然我讨厌放弃，”刘翔在自己的官方微博表示，这个“你”指的是跨栏。

“我真的“老”了，“病”了。

“我要开始新的征程。我将结束我的职业运动生涯，并从今天起正式退休。

“这是一个明智的决定，因为我没有别的选择。”

上周，本报上海新民网报道，刘翔的确会在周二正式挂靴（hang up someone’s boots指运动员退役），他公开宣布自己将成为继前NBA球员姚明和网球冠军李娜之后的第三个退役的中国明星级运动员。

刘翔说，他计划继续深造以充实自己，并且致力于对中国青少年体育的发展和国民健康有利的活动中，树立中国在国际田径上的影响力。

现年31岁的刘翔是上海本地人，最初受训成为一名跳高运动员，但后来转到跨栏项目，而他的举动也为他带来了巨大的成功。

刘翔在2001年赢得了东亚运动会和世界大学生运动会的110米栏冠军，这使他开始走向世界的舞台。他也在同一年进入了世锦赛的半决赛。

他最大的胜利是在2004年雅典奥运会时，刘翔轻松夺得110米栏的冠军并且追平了科林•杰克逊保持了11年的的世界纪录——12.91秒。那一刻，他震撼了中国。

紧接着在2006年在瑞士洛桑举办的国际田联大奖赛上，刘翔凭借着12.88秒的新世界纪录达到职业生涯的巅峰。一年后，他在大阪赢得了首个世界冠军金牌。

当刘翔一次次地轰动全球时，他也逐渐受到阿喀琉斯之踵的困扰，这一困扰最终导致他在2008年的北京奥运会上，一次起跑的失误后选择退出比赛。他的离开让家乡观众目瞪口呆。

最后，让我们祝愿刘翔早日摆脱伤痛的困扰！

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