The runner-up to Liu Xiang at the East Asian Games said he could have beaten the Olympic champion if he hadn't made a mistake.

"I started too fast and hit the first hurdle. If I didn't make that mistake I could have been first," said the 21-year-old, who clocked 13.36 seconds for the 110m hurdles silver after a false start.

Liu Xiang smoothly cleared all the hurdles to win the gold in 13.21 seconds, well off his world record of 12.91. "Of course I need to improve my run. But today's performance is okay," said Shi.

The East Asian Games was the third time Shi challenged Liu in two months. In the Asian championships in September, Liu won the gold in 13.30 seconds, followed by Shi in 13.44. In last month's Chinese National Games in Nanjing, Liu triumphed in 13.10 and Shi finished second in 13.44.  

The 22-year-old Liu became one of China's biggest celebrities after winning China's first ever Olympic men's athletics gold and leveled the world record in the Athens Olympics last year. His top time this year is 13.05 seconds, which is 0.08 seconds behind this season's best 12.97 set by Frenchman Ladji Doucoure, who beat Liu into second in the world championships.

runner-up  n. 亚军                   　　　　　hurdle  n. 栏
championship  n. 锦标赛