Shanghai Hero's Day

Today I was joined by 4x100 relay world record holders, Micheal Frater and Nesta Carter (JAM), 400m Olympic Champion Christine Ohuruogu (GBR), her coach and good friend Lloyd Cowan and triple jump Olympic Champion and record holder Francoise Mbango (CAM) as we were all honored during a press conference and lunch with the Major of Shanghai, the president of the federation along with several other key members of China's sporting body.

After being presented to the media, answering a few questions, taking photo's and being presented with Chinese gifts, we headed to a very prestigious Chinese restaurant named Lu Bo Lang. This restaurant was a staple during the Ming Dynasty and has hosted several VIP's such as President Clinton and Queen Elizabeth II.
At lunch, we were joined by Liu Xiang's coach Sun Haiping and Liu's father. I had the pleasure of meeting his father and I passed on my condolences to him and had him pass a message to Liu from me, basically saying get well soon and keep your head up, we have great races to still run together. He told me that Liu is doing well, so that is a good sign.

Sun (far left) and Liu's father (far right)
We ate very authentic and traditional Chinese cuisine, none of that carry-out stuff you find in the States. I immersed myself in their culture, from slurping the soup like they do to eating exclusively with chopsticks, the first time I ever did that. I was doing a very good job at it too, the key is to be patient.
We left there and headed back to the hotel where Veronica Campbell-Brown (JAM) joined Christine, Francoise and I for another press conference. The President of Best Buy, a main sponsor of the meet, presented us with a gift on behalf of his company and we answered some more questions.

I'm taking pictures of you taking pictures of me!
I had several television and newspaper interviews after the press conference. The Chinese are very knowledgeable, especially about the 110 hurdle event and I enjoy talking with them, I know the fans are going to be great on Saturday night.

I'm pretty tired now, my day lasted for about six hours with all of the media stuff which is fine with me, being recognized for your accomplishments is definitely a great feeling as an athlete.