BEIJING — Defending Olympic and world champion Liu Xiang declared the track "fairly good" in his first race Thursday at the Bird's Nest stadium, the 91,000-seat venue for athletics at the Beijing Olympics.

The world record holder in the 110-meter hurdles, Liu finished in 13.63 seconds, the second fastest time in preliminary heats for Saturday's final at the China Open. The meet is the first full-scale test event for the new stadium, which is the centerpiece of the August Olympics.

All times Thursday were relatively slow before a crowd of 22,000. Liu coasted over the last 20 yards and was running at a trot when he crossed the finish line. Shi Dongpeng of China had the quickest time in 13.58.

Liu was mobbed after the race by hundreds of Chinese reporters. In an area designed to let reporters talk with athletes, Liu climbed over several barriers to escape the waiting journalists.

Meet organizers managed to talk with the Olympic champion, providing a statement from him after the race.

"It (the track) reaches international standards, fairly good," Liu said. "The track is OK for me; not too soft, not too hard. I treated the race seriously and did well. After all, it's only the preliminaries."

He also commented on last week's deadly earthquake in China's Sichuan province, which killed more than 51,000 people.

"I have been focusing on the quake these days," he said, "I also care about the people in Sichuan. My coach and I have donated money to them. However, the disaster was unavoidable. I hope the people of Sichuan can stand up and lead a good life in the future. One person's power is limited. But we can join hands to overcome this disaster."

The 24-year-old Liu, who holds the world record of 12.88, will be under tremendous pressure before the home crowd to win gold in his event. Though China is expected to compete with the United States for the top spot on the Olympic medals table, the country has few athletes who are expected to win gold in track and field.