Beijing ? A day after Michael Phelps packed up his swim bag one last time, the Beijing Olympics lost its biggest homegrown star.

Defending 110-meter hurdles champion Liu Xiang, one of the most recognizable faces in China and even more popular than basketball player Yao Ming, walked away from the blocks after pulling up during a false start in qualifying Monday at the Bird?s Nest.

?We worked hard every day, but the result was as you see and it?s really hard to take,? said Liu?s coach, Sun Haiping.

While Liu clutched his right leg in pain, an elderly woman in the stands wiped tears from her eyes, providing the most poignant example of what the 25-year-old hurdler, who had been affected by the injury for several months, means to many in his home country as it hosts the games for the first time.

Millions of Chinese who watched Phelps win a record eight gold medals in the pool last week were hoping for a similar kind of boost from their favorite son.

Some of Liu?s fellow heat competitors were shocked.

?I feel so sorry that he was not in,? Mohammed Issa Al-thawadi of Qatar said. ?I really wanted to be next to Liu?s lane because he is such a big champion.?

Aussie wins women?s triathlon

As thousands watched Liu?s start block sit empty while his heat got under way, Emma Snowsill of Australia was nearing the finish line in the women?s triathlon.

Snowsill, a three-time world champion, took gold in the 1.5-kilometer swim, 40-kilometer bicycle ride and 10-kilometer run in 1 hour, 58 minutes, 27 seconds. Vanessa Fernandes of Portugal was second, a minute behind, and another Australian, Emma Moffatt, took the bronze.

?Coming down on the last lap I had to throw whatever I had left,? Snowsill said. ?There?s nothing like running scared.?

Chinese men still perfect in gymnastics

Chen Yibing extended China?s unbeaten run of gold ? five in five events ? in men?s gymnastics by winning the rings. The two-time world champion was perfectly still on nearly every move in registering 16.600 points that blew away the field of eight.

Britain won the men?s team pursuit at the Laoshan velodrome, knocking nearly two seconds off the world record it set a day earlier. The team of Ed Clancy, Paul Manning, Geraint Thomas and individual pursuit gold medalist Bradley Wiggins finished the 4,000 meters in 3:53.314, almost overtaking the silver medal-winning Denmark in the final.

New Zealand beat Australia to take the bronze medal.

Cycling, sailing

Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page the men?s and Elise Rechichi and Tessa Parkinson the women?s.

In men?s basketball, China?s Yao Ming will not bow out of the Olympics like his compatriot Liu, despite China losing to Greece in its final group game.

Vasileios Spanoulis and Ioannis Bourousis each scored 19 points to lead Greece to a 91-77 win. Yao, who didn?t score a basket until late in the second quarter, led China (2-3) with 18 points.

The game completed the playoff lineup. The United States, winner of Group B, will play Australia in the quarterfinals Wednesday. The Americans would face the winner of Argentina-Greece in the semifinals.

In the other bracket, Group A winner Lithuania meets China, and Spain faces Croatia, with the winners advancing to the semifinals. /AP