DOHA, Qatar -- As Liu Xiang made his way Friday through the tunnel beneath the Aspire Dome and out onto the track, he smiled for the cameras that followed his every step.

That is a far cry from the pained expression he wore as he slinked out of the Bird's Nest and the Beijing Olympics on August 18, 2008.

When he emerged onto the track before the third heat of the men's 60m hurdles at the IAAF World Indoor Championships, he was greeted with a raucous ovation from the contingent of fans in the upper deck that followed him here from China.

The response was so prolonged and so loud, Liu had to step out of the blocks to implore them to be quiet for the start.

Twice.

When Liu was forced from the Olympic Games with that right Achilles injury, many of those same home fans were left in tears.

It hardly mattered that Liu finished third in his heat Friday in 7.79 seconds, or that he was beaten by Evgeniy Borisov of Russia, a runner who would have been squarely in Liu's rearview mirror over 110-meters three years ago, and Helge Schwarzer of Germany, whose personal best in the 110m hurdles is more than half a second slower than Liu's.

The only thing that mattered Friday night was that the 2004 Olympic gold medalist and reigning world indoor champion was finally back to running before a global audience.