Liu Xiang of China may have broken the record of the 110 meter hurdles in the 2004 Athens Olympics but can he break records running on a rectangular track?

A 100,000 square-foot stadium was refurbished in a short time in Heilongjiang, China in preparation for Communist Party leaders' visit.

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The stadium itself was quite impressive with artificial grass laid immaculately at the center of the track, but the track itself has 90-degree-angle corners which caused a stir in the local community.

One local said that the stadium looks good "apart from the track which doesn't really look up to standard."

Other locals even tried to run the course.

A local woman told reporters on a regional television program that the corners were "tricky."

"Normally curves speed people up but these corners slow you down," she said after trying to run only to abandon at one of the corners.

Another resident Zhang Ying even speculated as to why the track has angled corners. "Is it for anti-collision?" he asked.

But stadium officials offered a different explanation. The course originally has curved corners as normal tracks do, but said that the rubber surface was worn down due to severe overuse.

A last-minute visit to the stadium from senior Communist Party leaders was announced so they had to make a quick makeover by painting the corners in right angles instead of the curves, admitted one official.

The official confessed that "In order to get it ready for the leaders, we painted it like that."

Li Yuxue, head of Heilongjiang's Track and Field Sports Administration, said that right-angled corners will slow runners down and will prevent them from achieving good results.

 The track was a monstrosity said one long distance runner. "It's impossible to run on such a surface," he exclaimed.

TagsLiu Xiang, 2004 Athens Olympics, Heilongjiang Province, track and field