BEIJING, CHINA - China's leaders have thrown their support behind Liu Xiang, the champion hurdler who stunned the nation with his abrupt departure from the Beijing Olympics, urging him to overcome injury and return to "glory."

Liu was the host nation's best hope of an athletics gold medal at the Beijing Olympics and his pained withdrawal from the 110m hurdles on Monday was a huge blow in a country where his image hangs on countless billboards.

In a sign of the national prestige invested in the hurdler, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping sent Liu a "get well" message, state media reported on Tuesday.

"Everyone will understand why Liu Xiang had to abandon competition due to injury, and we hope he will cast aside mental burdens and settle his mind on overcoming injury," said Xi, favored to succeed Hu Jintao as president in five years.

"Lift your fighting spirit and seek to win greater honor for the motherland."

In response, Liu vowed to seek an early return to competition, Xinhua reported.

The message, also issued on the front page of the People's Daily, the Party's official newspaper, underscored how Liu's quest to repeat his victory of the 2004 Athens Games meant so much in the country where track and field gold medals have remained scarce despite China's position at top of the medal table.

After a false start in a hurdles heat, Liu stumbled for a few paces hindered by the injury to his right foot before walking away and leaving a packed Bird's Nest stadium in stunned silence.

A commentary on the People's Daily website (www.people.com.cn) criticized Internet comments that have speculated Liu folded under pressure on home soil.

"Perhaps a nation of 1.3 billion should not place the burdens of its aspirations on a boy's shoulders," it said.