China's fastest 110-meter hurdler, Liu Xiang, has just equaled the Asian record.

Liu Xiang ran a personal best for this year of 13.6 seconds, at a domestic track meet in Tianjin on Sunday.

This is his last warm-up event before the Olympics. As the Athens's games approach, the athlete seemed in good condition.

The victory boosted his confidence and bodes well for his hopes to compete for the top podium place in Athens, despite being a hundredth of a second slower than world champion Allen Johnson's personal best of the year.

Liu Xiang and his teammates will fine tune fitness in the next couple of weeks and fly to the Greek capital on Aug 18.

(CRI August 3, 2004)