London, Jul 15 (IANS): Liu Xiang's back injury which forced him out of Saturday night's London Diamond League final will not affect his chance of winning at the Olympic Games in three weeks time, his coach Sun Haiping said here Sunday.
"It's just a slight problem. Liu felt a little uncomfortable in his back after the heat round. We decided to pull out of the finals just for the sake of caution," Sun was quoted as saying by Xinhua, adding that after a night's rest Liu is feeling a lot better.
"Liu could have finished the race if we wanted him to. But we thought that it was unnecessary in this event," said Sun.
To avoid the wet and cold English weather, Liu and his team is reportedly to have left England for training. But Sun declined to reveal where they will be going.
Liu had cruised into the 110m hurdles final after winning his heat in 13.27 seconds but failed to take his place on the start line for the final for the injury.
"I will be back for the Olympic Games," Liu told Chinese reporters before boarding a coach for the Heathrow Airport.
The men's 110m hurdles at the Olympic Games will be held August 7.