Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) -- As China reacted with shock to its most famous track athlete's withdrawal from the Beijing Olympics, athletes and sponsors said they felt Liu Xiang's pain, while some fans complained that he should have tried running.

Defending 110-meter hurdles champion Liu, second only to Yao Ming in popularity among Chinese sports fans, dropped out of today's first heat at the Bird's Nest stadium with an ankle injury, grimacing before shedding tears in private.

``It is painful for him but the pain is not in his leg,'' two-time Olympic champion runner Haile Gebrselassie told reporters, before pointing to his head. ``It is up here.''

Liu, who wrote his name into Chinese sports history by becoming its first Olympic track champion four years ago, suffered the strain to his right Achilles' tendon two days ago in training and hobbled around the starting blocks today.

After pushing off on the damaged foot, Liu pulled up, ripped his lane number off his leg and walked straight out of the stadium. The arena was almost silent, minutes after a capacity crowd of 91,000 had screamed his name.

``When you see the crowd you realize why he had to come out,'' said Britain's Allan Scott, who ran the same heat. ``I crossed the line and I assumed he was there, but I looked across and he wasn't. I was amazed.''

Scalpers Demands

He wasn't alone. Li Ping paid scalpers 12,000 yuan ($1,750) for eight tickets, just for the chance to see Liu run a heat. The final isn't scheduled until Aug. 21.

``We were so disappointed,'' said Li, accompanied by his wife, mother-in-law, sisters-in-law and their three kids after trekking 1,900 kilometers (1,200 miles) from Chengdu. ``I would feel even more awful if I'd bought tickets for the final.''

Premium tickets for the final were advertised for as much as $7,000 on ticket resale Web sites in the past month. Regular tickets for the Aug. 20 semifinals were priced at more than $800 on EBay Inc. this morning.

Tears followed his exit today, with Liu's coach Sun Haiping breaking down and track team head Feng Shuyong saying Liu also cried. Wang Di, a 14-year-old junior high student, wept after the stadium announcer confirmed her worst fears.

``Now I'm more worried about his injury and how soon he can recover,'' Wang said.

`Angry'

Dong Rina, the track and field reporter for state-run China Central Television, also broke down twice as she recounted a call from Liu's father after midnight asking her not to ask Liu about his injuries to avoid adding to the pressure on him.

Not all Chinese fans were as sympathetic, with some saying Liu should have given it a go rather than pulling out.

``I feel angry,'' said Liu Songhua, with his wife and 6- year-old son after traveling 1,770 kilometers from Xiamen to be at the Bird's Nest. ``If I were him, I would have held on and given it a shot.''

Mei Ping, wife of the fan who bought scalpers' tickets, said seeing Liu quit ``without a fight'' was disappointing.

``We're confused and we feel cheated,'' added Liu Hong, a taxi driver. ``We won't care if he comes in second or third, as long as we see him try his best and run.''

Sun Jie, Liu's former coach at sports school, said the past four years had been ``very tough'' for Liu and the injury had resurfaced at last year's world championships in Osaka, Japan.

``I think it would help him more if the whole society could be more understanding and not give criticisms; give him more encouragement as he recovers,'' Sun said in a phone interview.

`World Class'

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping told Xinhua ``people will understand that Liu quit because of injury'' and he hoped Liu could ``put things behind him.''

Former sprinter Colin Jackson, who held the world record for the 110 hurdles before Liu broke it, said the 25-year-old from Shanghai had done the right thing.

``In a way I'm pleased,'' the Briton told reporters. ``It could have been a massive injury that wrecked his career. He's a world-class athlete and you never want that to happen.''

Liu's sponsors, who have based multimillion-dollar marketing campaigns around China's foremost Olympic athlete in individual sports, were among the sympathizers.

``We began supporting Liu before his Athens triumph and will continue to support him through his recovery,'' said Christina Lau, a Coca-Cola Co. spokeswoman in China.

Yao Silent

Forbes Inc. said Liu earned 163.2 million yuan ($23.7 million) in 2007, the third-most on its ``Famous Chinese People'' rankings headed by Yao. The National Basketball Association player declined to respond to questions about Liu following China's defeat against Greece today.

Visa Inc., the largest credit-card company, announced an ad campaign based on Michael Phelps minutes after the U.S. swimmer won the last of his record eight gold medals yesterday. Nothing similar had been planned for Liu, said Paul Dowling, general manager of corporate relations for Visa in Asia.

``Nobody's as disappointed as he is and we're hurt for him as an individual,'' Dowling said in a phone interview.

Gebrselassie, 35, said the world had been denied one of the most anticipated races of the Olympics between Liu and Dayron Robles, the Cuban who broke Liu's world record in June.

``It's bad luck, not just for Liu Xiang or China, but for everyone,'' the two-time 10,000-meter champion said. ``We all wanted to see the best race. The race won't happen, but that unpredictability is one of the good things about sport.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Grant Clark in Beijing at gclark@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 18, 2008 08:11 EDT