BEIJING — The accusations started flying as soon as star Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang limped off the track of the National Stadium here Monday and dropped out of the Olympic Games.

Many Chinese had considered Liu the photogenic poster boy of what's so far been a stellar Summer Games for Chinese athletes. Hundreds of millions were watching on television shortly before noon Monday as the 25-year-old, 2004 Olympic gold medal winner took the track for the first time during the current games to the roar of tens of thousands of fans.

Those hopes crashed just seconds after the starting gun fired for a qualifying race in Liu's signature event, the 110-meter hurdles. Liu barely got off a few feeble steps, and it was over.

While the rest of the hurdlers returned to their starting blocks after a false start, Liu left the track without acknowledging the legions of shocked fans still waiting for him to dominate. A Chinese television news reporter covering the event wept on camera.

Just minutes later, this 1.3 billion-person country's adrenalized blogosphere was afire. As the first Chinese winner of a men's track and field gold medal and a former world record holder, both in the 110-meter hurdles, Liu is nothing less than a rock star to legions of young Chinese.

Yet many Chinese bloggers turned on Liu after the race, accusing him of faking what his coaches said was an inflamed right Achilles' heel and shirking from the morning's epic test. Chinese censors stepped into action in the afternoon to erase the barrage of negative Web postings.

His absence from track meets since May, apparently due to a right hamstring injury, helped feed rumors that Liu was hiding from competition.

"I feel pain not because of his exit but because of his quitting ways," wrote senior soccer reporter Dong Lu in his blog. "I think he should have at least waved goodbye to the 90,000-person audience in the stadium. If it was me, I would prefer to walk the 110 meters until the end."

Another blogger named Dream-pursuing girl wrote, "I think Liu Xiang isn't confident. He thought he wouldn't win the race, he was afraid, then used the excuse of a foot injury to withdraw from the competition. It is really a disappointing thing. He has disappointed all the Chinese."

In a mournful press conference after the race, the Chinese athletic team's head coach, Feng Shuyong, partly blamed such scrutiny for the hurdler's misfortunes, saying Liu was under intense public pressure especially during these Olympics. Advertising billboards featuring the hurdler's face fill Beijing.

Feng said Liu would likely not compete until next year because of his injuries. U.S. hurdler Terrence Trammell, who finished just behind Liu in the 110-meter hurdles in the 2004 Summer Games, also dropped out of the same event Monday due to a leg injury.

That leaves Cuban hurdler, Dayron Robles, who broke Liu's world record in June, as the favorite in the event.

"Although Liu doesn't go out often, whenever he does he sees his own picture in the streets, and then whenever he surfs the Internet he sees all kinds of information about him," Feng said. "Liu Xiang is a great athlete. He withstands the kind of pressure that no other athlete could withstand."

Liu's personal coach Sun Haiping wept during the news conference while describing his attempts to keep Liu in the race, which had included icing the hurdler's right foot and spraying it with an anti-inflammatory coolant. Liu did not speak Monday.

Such explanations, however, didn't quiet speculation Monday, even from other athletes. Some wondered, for example, why Liu had grimaced and rubbed his right hamstring Monday morning when his coaches said the problem was his heel.

"Liu Xiang is obviously very sad, and I can understand his pain," said Ethiopian runner Haile Gebrselassie. "It is painful for him, but the pain is not in his leg. Where is the pain?

"It is up here," the Ethiopian answered, pointing to his head.

Chinese fans walking out of the National Stadium Monday said they were saddened by Liu's departure but were willing to give the hurdler the benefit of the doubt. Even without Liu, Chinese athletes have built a commanding lead in the Olympics gold medal race.

"I think there was too much pressure on him," said Steve Zhong, who had traveled from southern China to catch that morning's track meet. "Everyone in China was watching him."

Liu became a superstar after winning the 2004 gold medal, which ended a long string of mediocre Chinese track and field performances.

With his good lucks and friendly demeanor, the hurdler went on to become a "Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson combined" for many Chinese, regularly appearing on magazine covers and television commercials, said Xu Guoqui, a U.S.-based chronicler of the Chinese sports program.

Liu has also won international fame, with Newsweek magazine featuring him on the cover of its Aug. 4, 2008, edition under the headline "What Drives China."

Yet all that build-up and advertising pizzazz went up in smoke in a matter of seconds.

"More than 1.3 billion people had their hopes on him," Xu said. "He was the biggest star of the Olympics, and now he's gone."