Liu Xiang announces divorce on Weibo

Retired star hurdler Liu Xiang caused a stir on the Internet on Thursday by announcing on his micro blog that he had divorced his actress wife Ge Tian.

Liu, who won gold in the 110m hurdles at the 2004 Athens Olympics, said the couple had divorced just nine months after their wedding.

"Me and Ge fell in love with each other in May 2014 and got married in September," Liu said on his Weibo account. "Due to incompatibility in our personalities, we decided to end the marriage today, hoping we shall each have (a) more beautiful life in the future. We wish each other the best in the future."

Within two hours of the statement appearing, more than 100,000 comments were posted on Weibo.com by some of Liu's 1 million-plus followers, while the news became Thursday's hottest topic with more than 27 million views.

Liu, one of the country's highest-profile sports celebrities, made his romance with Ge public by posting a photo of them together leaning on a hurdle with a caption reading, "My beloveds, her and it" on Weibo on Sept 9, 2014. He has now deleted all photos of Ge from his account.

Ge confirmed the divorce in an interview on Sina.com, saying, "Everything is subject to what he said."

Liu was propelled to stardom in 2004 as he became the first Chinese male athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in a track and field event. However, he went on to spark controversy by withdrawing from the 110m hurdles at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and pulling up while competing in the London Olympics four years later.

Speculation that Liu's marriage was in trouble has been widespread in the Chinese media for some time, with commentators pointing to signs that they had grown distant from each other.

Retired star hurdler Liu Xiang and his then-wife Ge Tian attend a charity event in Shanghai in September last year. Gao Erqiang / China Daily