Liu Xiang divorces his actress wife
Print Edition
CHINA’S former Olympic hurdler Liu Xiang yesterday divorced his actress wife Ge Tian, just nine months after he had surprised fans with the announcement of his marriage.
“Ge Tian and I fell in love in May 2014 and tied the knot in September,” the 32-year-old Shanghai athlete wrote on his Sina Weibo microblog. “We have not been getting along well due to incompatible personalities and ended our marriage today. We wish each other a better life ahead.”
The couple had rarely been seen in public since their marriage. Liu was on his own when he attended the Laureus World Sports Awards in Shanghai in April and his wife was not to be seen at his retirement ceremony in the city last month.
When Liu announced his retirement at Shanghai Stadium during the IAAF Diamond League on May 17, he thanked the China Athletics Association, his fans and sponsors, but made no mention of his wife.
Possibly the only time they were seen together in public was at a charity activity for visually challenged children on September 11 last year — four days after they registered their marriage.
Since then, Liu had been living in Shanghai while Ge stayed in Beijing. When Liu traveled to Beijing in February, it was reported that he stayed in a hotel rather than at Ge’s residence. However, both insisted that they met in private.
Sina.com said it had phoned Ge to confirm the news. Ge, who sounded like she was crying, said: “What Liu says is the fact.”
It was on Weibo that the couple’s marriage was announced. Two days after their registration, Liu posted a picture of the couple leaning on a hurdle at Liu’s training base in Shanghai’s Xinzhuang.
Liu’s parents told reporters that the couple got to know each other in 2009 though Ge had been a fan since 2004, the year Liu won Olympic gold in Athens.
They met when Ge asked for a photograph together with Liu, and they kept in touch after that. Ge was said to have given Liu a lot of support after his dramatic exit from the 2012 London Olympics.
Ge, who is thought to be six years younger than Liu, was born in Jinan in east China’s Shandong Province. She is a graduate of the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing and has appeared in a number of TV series.
One series was taken off air last month over a “lewd” scene in which her screen boyfriend pulled a stick grenade from inside her trousers. “Fight the Devils Together” told the story of China’s resistance to invading Japanese forces in the 1930s.
Liu’s divorce announcement was reposted over 60,000 times in an hour. Most followers sent him their best wishes.
Liu was forced to pull out of the 2008 Beijing Olympics with an Achilles injury and his hopes of regaining his Olympic title four years later in London ended when he stumbled at the first hurdle.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
