Published: September 8, 2004

Liu Xiang winning the men's 110-meter hurdles in Athens. The Chinese say he overcame "congenital shortcomings.''

Tuesday the gold medalist was in Hong Kong signing autographs for fans

EIJING, Sept. 7 - He is now nicknamed "the Yellow Bullet." His gold medal is said to be "the heaviest," or most significant, of the 32 that China won in the Athens Olympics. He carried the Chinese flag in the closing ceremonies and has returned home to riches and glory.

All of this adulation because Liu Xiang, a high hurdler, has proved what many Chinese have long felt was not possible: that yellow men can jump, and sprint, too.

"It is a kind of miracle," Mr. Liu, 21, exulted at a post-race news conference after tying the world record and winning gold in the 110-meter high hurdles. "It is unbelievable - a Chinese, an Asian, has won this event."

He added: "It is a proud moment not only for China, but for Asia and all people who share the same yellow skin color."

In many countries, particularly the United States, this kind of racial stereotyping often touches a raw nerve in society. But among Chinese, the proposition that genetic differences have made Asian athletes slower in sprinting than their American, African or European rivals is a widely accepted maxim, if an unproven one.

The Communist Party apparently thinks so, too. At the midway point of the Athens Games, with China in a surprisingly tight competition with the United States for the lead in gold medals, the party's chief newspaper, People's Daily, cautioned that track and field events were about to begin.

While Chinese are ''suited'' to sports like Ping-Pong, badminton and gymnastics that require agility and technique, the newspaper noted, purely athletic events are different. Chinese had ''congenital shortcomings" and "genetic differences" that created disadvantages against black and white athletes.

In an effort to give this halftime pep talk a positive spin, the commentary urged Chinese athletes to work harder. "If Chinese people want to make their mark in the major Olympic competitions, they have to break through the fatalism that race determines everything," the newspaper advised.

Mr. Liu's victory has not fully erased this ingrained belief. Chinese sports officials have explained his win, in part, by noting that hurdles also require technique, not just raw speed, an observation that invokes another, more positive, stereotype - that Chinese are disciplined and smart. His coach has been credited with developing special training methods to overcome any racial deficiencies.

But by becoming the first Chinese man to win a sprinting event in modern Olympics history, Mr. Liu's victory has been particularly embraced by a younger generation of upwardly mobile, urban Chinese who themselves are eager to shatter stereotypes. Handsome, with thick, styled hair, Mr. Liu is 6 feet 2. His playful smile on the medal stand, with his tongue sticking out, offered a far different image from that of the reserved Chinese medalists of the past.

"Glory Belongs to the New Generation of the 1980's," proclaimed China Newsweek magazine, with a picture of a determined Mr. Liu striding over a hurdle.

Yao Ming, the Chinese basketball star, was one of the first athletes to touch this chord in the national psyche. His stardom with the Houston Rockets has made him the most famous athlete in China. He is popular not just because he is a good player, but because he is tall. At 7 feet 5, he helped dispel the Western stereotype that all Chinese are short.

But if Mr. Yao was chosen to carry the Chinese flag at the opening ceremony, it was Mr. Liu who was selected to carry it at the closing. He is already being deluged with endorsement and entertainment offers. A record company reportedly offered him $600,000.

Like many Chinese, Feng Jue, 32, a marketing executive for the Chinese Web site, , stayed up late to watch the live telecast of Mr. Liu's race. She had not even heard of him until the day before the finals. But when he won, she was overjoyed.

She thought his victory represented a significant and positive change in Chinese society. "The new generation, I think, is more civilized," she said of people in their 20's. "They think of themselves as human beings first, not the country and the party's interest."

The Communist Party has been quick to take advantage of the popularity of Mr. Liu and the other Olympic athletes. This week, the country's gold medal winners have been on a tour of Hong Kong, a thinly disguised attempt by the government to generate good will before Hong Kong's critical coming elections.

Mr. Liu's victory has Chinese sports officials looking at other athletic events that might produce gold when Beijing plays host to the Summer Olympics in 2008. Li Aidong, a researcher with the China Institute of Sports Science, said coaches believe Chinese athletes could be successful in long jumping, high jumping and speed walking. They have already had some success in distance running, including a gold in the women's 10,000 meters this year.

There are no credible scientific studies to underpin the idea that Asians are physically inferior to other athletes in sprinting. Nor are Chinese alone in succumbing to ingrained racial beliefs: the Olympics victory of the white American sprinter Jeremy Wariner in the 400-meter dash startled a fair number of people in the United States. He was the first white winner of the event in 40 years.

But Ms. Li said she doubted China could compete in events like pure sprinting.

"Short distance races are physically intensive," Ms. Li said. "They require a lot of physical abilities, like speed and sudden strength. Although we have no research data, it has been an open fact that Asians and Chinese are disadvantaged when compared to Europeans and Americans."

Mr. Liu had been very modest before the Olympics, hoping for a top six finish, perhaps a bit of bluffing from a man who finished second at the world championships. He sounded very different by the time he spoke with reporters after his victory in Athens.

He said he was looking toward Beijing in 2008 and he predicted more ''miracles'" - not just from himself, but also from other Chinese track athletes.

"Please pay attention to Chinese track and field," he told a Chinese newspaper. "I think we Chinese can unleash a yellow tornado on the world."