SHANGHAI, China -- Olympic hurdles champion and world record holder Liu Xiang is aiming for a fourth consecutive win at next month's Osaka Grand Prix, a prelude to the world championships later this year in the same Japanese city.
"Osaka has been a lucky city for me because I have never lost a competition there. I am trying my best to keep my 100 percent record," Liu, the world-record holder in the 110-meter hurdles, said in an interview with Chinese television.
"A victory in May will give me more confidence to win in August" at the worlds in Osaka, Liu said.
With winning becoming almost routine, Liu and his coach have introduced changes to keep things interesting, moving his spring training base this year from his hometown of Shanghai to China's capital Beijing, where he is joined by other top Chinese athletes.
"It's a different mood in a different place. There are also some teammates training with me and this will help me a lot," Liu said.
Coach Sun Haiping said the change of locales would hopefully keep boredom at bay, saying his concerns were avoiding injuries and balancing Liu's training with advertising shoots and personal appearances.
Liu has become a high-profile -- and highly paid -- pitch man for companies such as Coca-Cola and Nike since rocketing to international fame with his win at the 2004 Athens Olympics, the first by a Chinese athlete in a sprint event.
Liu said fulfilling his commercial obligations could be a chore.
Shooting commercials "causes me more suffering. Sometimes I have to get up as early as 6 a.m. and go home as late as 9 p.m.," Liu said. "I don't think I could become an actor."
Liu is expected to be one of the stars in the 2008 Games in Beijing, although he's been eager to dampen expectations.
"The top athletes are very close. I have to run three rounds before reaching the final. So my first aim is to make sure I get a spot in the final," he said.
Liu set the 110-meter world record of 12.88 seconds in Lausanne in July last year, beating previous co-holder Colin Jackson of Britain.
In February, he ran 7.42 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles at the Karlsruhe indoor meet in Germany to hold off Cuban rival Dayron Robles and lower his own Asian record by .001 seconds.
His final preparation race for the worlds is scheduled for July 17 at Sheffield, England.
