Former 110 metres hurdles world record holder Colin Jackson knows "massive star'' Liu Xiang will carry the weight of a nation when he goes for Olympic gold in Beijing - but expects young Cuban Dayron Robles to give the Chinese giant a run for his money.

Jackson, now 41, saw his long-standing hurdles mark of 12.91 seconds, set back in 1993, equalled by Liu when he won the event at the 2004 Games in Athens, before finally being overtaken two years ago by the 6ft 2in athlete.

However, the Chinese athlete - world champion in Osaka, Japan last year - has since seen his own time as the fastest hurdler on the planet cut short by Cuban rising talent Robles, who clocked 12.87secs at the Golden Spike meet in Ostrava, Czech Republic in June.

Earlier this year, during March, the duo were set to go head to head over 60m at the World Indoor Championships in Valencia - only for Robles to pull up after he incorrectly thought Liu had made a false start.

Since then, the 21-year-old has not only overtaken Liu's world-record mark, but also emerged as a genuine challenger to gatecrash the Chinese party in Beijing this summer by denying the partisan home crowd's very own golden boy.

Jackson - who won two world titles and four European gold medals as well as an Olympic silver at the Seoul Games in 1998 - feels the anticipated showdown between the two leading athletes has all the hallmarks of an epic encounter.

"Liu Xiang has won big races and is used to handling pressure well, but the volume and intensity has been increased incredibly,'' said Jackson.

"He is a massive star in China. I don't even think their Prime Minister is as famous as he is.

"There is a lot of pressure on him to deliver the gold medal for him and for China - unfortunately for him, but not for us, he has tremendous competition from a young lad from Cuba.

"Liu knows this guy can deliver the goods and perform.

"Both of them are really clean hurdlers when they are at their best - but only one of them has so much pressure on them, while the other has so much to gain to become Olympic champion.''

Jackson was ranked in the world top 10 for 16 years and was number one from 1992 to 1994.

The Welshman - now known to a new generation for his appearances on 'Strictly Come Dancing' - will be in Beijing as part of the BBC commentary team.

Jackson believes Team GB - who will be represented in the 110m hurdles by Andrew Turner and Allan Scott - are in good shape to return with a bumper medal haul, which would inspire budding youngsters around the country ahead of the London Games in 2012 and beyond.

"We are the leaders of Europe and are going to take it to the best in the world,'' he said.

"There is so much confidence in our young athletes now and they know they can achieve.

"Once you have that belief, you can only go out and do it.''

Jackson added: ''Perhaps the best thing which will happen to us will be in 2016, when kids have been touched by the Games in London and will work for the next four years to be an Olympian.

"That is when we really could see a return from being at the top of our game.''