刘翔留给世界怎样的背影

　　4月7日，中国飞人刘翔通过一条微博正式宣布退役。全球媒体毫不吝啬地在他的名字前后加上了一串串名词、形容词和动词：

　　BBC

　　中国奥运跨栏冠军刘翔，中国最重要的体育明星之一，退役了。

　　China's Olympic gold medal-winning hurdler Liu Xiang, one of the country's biggest sports stars, has retired.

　　法新社

　　中国最伟大的田径运动员刘翔在周二宣布退役，受伤病困扰，这位2004年雅典奥运会金牌得主表示，他“别无选择”，只能终结自己那具有开拓性的职业生涯。

　China's greatest track and field athlete Liu Xiang announced his retirement Tuesday, with the injury-plagued Athens 2004 gold medal winner saying he had "no choice" but to bring down the curtain on his trail-blazing career.

　　CNN

　　中国跨栏运动员刘翔，该国的第一个田径奥运冠军和前世界纪录保持者，在周二宣布因伤病退役。

　　Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang, the first man from his country to win an Olympic gold medal in track and field and a former world-record holder, announced his retirement Tuesday due to injury.

　　路透

　　中国的奥运跨栏金牌得主刘翔在周二宣布退役，结束了他的体育生涯，其间他创下光荣纪录，也在晚期留下系列伤病带来的挫折。

　　China's Olympic gold medal-winning hurdler Liu Xiang announced his retirement on Tuesday, ending a run in the sport marked by records and frustrated by successive late-career injuries.
除了媒体，一些国际体育人士也表示了伤感与敬意，刘翔的对手，曾经在2011年世界冠军赛上败给刘翔的英国运动员特纳（Andy Turner）通过自己的推特账户表示：

　　听到刘翔的宣布退役很难受，他是一个绝对的传奇，一个值得尊敬的对手。

　　Sad to hear Liu Xiang has announced his retirement. He was an absolute legend and an honour to race against.

　　另一名英国选手波兹(Andrew Pozzi)也表示；

　　我们这项运动的传奇，祝你退役快乐 #刘翔

　　Happy retirement to a legend of our sport #LiuXiang

　　在敬意之外，人们也不可能无视刘翔带来的争议，他在2008年北京奥运会上的退赛风波也无法不成为回顾的重点对象。
为他辩护者不少。著名体育记者查班德（Ian Chadband）在路透网站撰写文章，名为：

　　《刘翔，从未令中国失望的开拓者》

　　Liu Xiang, the trailblazer who never let China down

　　查班德认为，伴随着刘翔的退役，对于他的争议更应该就此终结。

　　在他周二在微博上发布的退役声明中，刘翔回忆了他在2008年北京奥运会上的噩梦经历，并不禁自问：“为什么我辜负了全国人民的期待？”

　　In the retirement statement released on his microblog on Tuesday, Liu, looking back with "reluctance" on the nightmarish experience at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, could not help but ask the old question: "Why did I let the Chinese people down?"

　　现在这个问题的答案应该被最后一次确认，那就是这个世界人口最多国家培育的最伟大的田径运动员刘翔，他从来没有让任何人失望，尤其是没有让他自己失望。

　　The answer, it should now be asserted one last time, is that Liu, the greatest track and field athlete the world's most populous nation has ever produced, never did let anyone down. Least of all himself.