The skill of American surgeon Tom Clanton will have a bearing on whether superstar hurdler Liu Xiang gets another shot at competing for Olympic gold in four years' time.

Officials broke their silence yesterday to confirm beyond any shadow of a doubt that China's pride and joy in the field of athletics will go under the knife later this month in Houston.

Athens gold medalist Liu was unable to defend his Olympic title in Beijing in August, much to the disappointment of home fans, when a crippling Achilles injury sent him hobbling off the Bird's Nest track in pain during preliminary heats of the 110m hurdles.

Since then his camp and specifically his trainer Sun Haiping have kept fans and reporters guessing as to whether they would resort to surgery to get the star back on track despite flying to the US last month, where the overwhelming response from doctors was that this would be the best recourse.

Clanton, who helped China's NBA all-star Yao Ming correct a stress fracture in his left foot early this year, will now head up the operation, according to Feng Shuyong, vice director of the Chinese Athletics Administrative Center. He said Chinese and foreign doctors arrived at the decision over the weekend, although Liu has issued public comments to the effect recently.

"It will be a simple operation, in which the calcified areas will be removed," Feng was quoted as saying by sina.com. "The new tissue will grow out to fill in the (holes) soon and Liu's tendon will fully recover."

The surgery will take place in Houston before the middle of December, he added. Liu will then stay there for several months to recover.

Yao's injury, performed in March, almost cost the Houston Rockets' center a golden opportunity to play for China at the Beijing Games but in the end all was well and he led the team to an eighth-place finish.

With four years to go until the London Olympics get under way, Liu has plenty of time to get back in shape.

"The 2012 Games are very important for Liu and I hope he will be back soon for normal training," Feng said.

(China Daily December 2, 2008)