SHANGHAI: The last post on hurdler Liu Xiang's official blog reads: Trust me, I will be back.
The posting date was Aug 19, 2008, a day after he limped out of last year's Beijing Olympics at the Bird's Nest.
On Sunday, 398 days later, Liu, at his hometown track at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, declared to the world: Yes, I am back.
He ran a superb time of 13.15 sec, only 0.01 sec slower than the title-winning time Ryan Brathwaite of Barbados clocked at last month's Berlin World Championships.
"I don't think it was a difficult time for me and every day is just an ordinary day now," Liu said, looking past his grueling 13 months of rehabilitation.
"I'm not worried about the results I'm just happy, like before, in daily life. Everybody has ups and downs. It's normal."
He talked in a calm tone, masking the pressure which must have built up since that fateful withdrawal in Beijing. Many believe Liu wiped out the dreams of a nation when he failed to defend his Olympic title on home soil. Some even cursed him for not trying to race and just walking out of the stadium.
The doubters wondered if he could ever recapture his glory days; they were silenced on Sunday night.
"I always asked my son whether he was feeling pressure. His answer was very simple: 'Pressure is what people put on themselves. If you don't think too much about it, then it won't bother you'," said Liu's father, Liu Xuegen, who chose to stay home to watch his son's performance on Sunday.
"His mother and I didn't worry much about the pressure but just felt distressed for him. We knew it was not an easy time for him, so we tried to help him as much as possible. The good thing is that he is a very optimistic person."
Last December, Liu had successful surgery in Houston, Texas, and four calcium deposits were removed from his right Achilles tendon.
Three months later, the former Olympic and world champion hurdler returned to his hometown of Shanghai and started on the long road to recovery.
"I felt like I was a freshman on the Shanghai team and I just trained in the basics," Liu said.
"This is my job and I love it. I never thought about reaching my previous levels; I just wanted to do well in training every day. Then, let the results come in competitions."
When he finally stepped on to the track, Liu performed like the champion he is. Although he got off to a bad start, he accelerated in mid-race and crossed the finish line neck and neck with Trammell, the Berlin World Championships runner-up.
While Liu waved to the audience and received a standing ovation, Trammell, beaten by Liu at previous major events including the 2006 Lausanne Grand Prix and the 2007 World Championships, squatted and held his head before realizing he was the victor this time around.
"I never thought that I could run so fast. I think I was stirred up by the enthusiastic audience as well as Trammell ahead of me," Liu said after the race wearing a big smile.
His family was so excited about his performance that it set off celebratory fireworks.
"Days ago he told me he just wanted to feel the competition again and he would do much better next year," said Liu's father.
With such a solid start, Liu and his coach are now looking optimistically to the future.
"We are considering participating in a series of world events next year but I don't have any goals for him at the National Games next month just for him to play it safe," coach Sun Haiping said.