Hurdles star Liu Xiang has been dreaming for years about finding the perfect combination at the Beijing Games - smooth running and explosive jumps. It is a combination he is desperate to find since he bears the expectations of an entire nation as he tries to defend his 110m Olympic gold.

Liu Xiang is seen wearing his new track suit during the Good Luck Beijing Track and Field International Invitational Tournament in May. [China Daily]

No wonder he is so picky about his shoes.

Liu Xiang is seen wearing his new track suit during the Good Luck Beijing Track and Field International Invitational Tournament in May. "It's always a challenge to provide the perfect apparel for elite athletes like Liu Xiang," said Arrel Lu, a designer of Liu's track shoes. "How to support him better at the Beijing Games has been one of our biggest tasks in recent years."

Lu has been working with Liu since 2005, the year after the hurdler won a historic gold medal in Athens.

As the one who conveys ideas between Liu and other Nike designers at the company's headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, Lu knows exactly what Liu loves and hates.

"The ones he likes most are the original spikes he used to win the gold medal at the 2004 Athens Games," she said. "So the design of that pair of shoes is the basis for Nike's future designs."

Those gold-medal shoes were a pair of Zoom Superfly G5s - white spikes with a red strap and black outsole.

Those shoes were also designed for Liu, who signed with Nike when he was the world junior champion and a world bronze medalist. A special task force designed spikes for Liu, a privilege reserved for megastars like Tiger Woods, Roger Federer and Lance Armstrong.