China’s biggest athletic star last night delighted his fans as he sprinted to victory at the spanking brand new Olympic stadium in a dry run of the 2008 Beijing Games.

To deafening screams from his adoring young female fans, and cheered by an ecstatic Chinese crowd, Liu Xiang, the world record-holder and Olympic champion in the 110 metre hurdles won his semi-final to qualify for the showpiece event at the Good Luck Beijing China Athletics Open tonight.

But his determination to be first off the blocks nearly scuppered his chances as he was the only semi-finalist to make a false start. He smiled ruefully as 50,000 spectators crammed into the first two tiers of the stadium bowl looked on anxiously. Moments after he crossed the finishing line in a time of 13.46sec, well below his world record of 12.88sec, the crowd rose to its feet before abandoning the rest of the night’s events and following their hero outside.

The flashing cameras, glaring theatrical lights against the red and green arena, and an eerie haze over the entire bowl — both dust and smog — added to the glamour of the occasion, the last trials before the real thing in August.

Liu, 24, was also testing new electronic tags to be used for the first time in Olympic track events to provide a much more detailed profile of an athlete’s performance during a race. The transmitter, the size of a credit card, is inserted into a small plastic bag at the back of the athlete’s bib worn against his chest. As the athlete crosses one of four antenna on the track, the chip triggers a signal which is sent to the official timers along with the ID number of the tag.

Christophe Berthaud, Olympic manager of Omega, the Games’ official timekeepers, explained that the system would give much more information about the athletes’ performances during the race. The result is still judged by photograph but the system allows the public and television viewer to have more detail about rankings of runners during a race, particularly in the long-distance events, he said.

Berthaud has been hugely impressed with the speed in which the stadium and other venues have been built and surrounding infrastructure fast-tracked, pushing the total Olympic bill to a reported £20 billion. But he admits dealing with the Chinese has been incredibly frustrating with officials changing decisions at a whim after lengthy negotiations. He was told by the police that the 26.2-mile stretch of road from Tiananmen Square to the Olympic Green could only be cleared ten minutes before the marathon starts, rather than the two hours which Berthaud is demanding. Negotiations are continuing.

Tickets sold well for the three-day test event before the Games kick off in 76 days, with tonight’s final in the 91,000-seat stadium a sell-out. By 6pm yesterday, thousands of spectators had had their first glimpse inside the reputed £250 million structure with its intricate web of steel pincers enveloping the enormous stadium. At night the building cladding looks even more impressive as the red from the walls, the seats, the bars and facilities pushes through the silver framework.

The spectators were herded without grumbling through extensive security checks. Beijing has adopted airport-like measures to ensure the Games are safe. Forbidden items include water, lighters, “long bags”, big umbrellas, laptops, sharp objects and any “propaganda or foreign flags”.

Once inside, the fans dispersed to buy beers, caps and other souvenirs as caterers and sponsors also tested their products. Everything is red or yellow, two of the most auspicious colours in China — with red denoting luck and yellow, power and wealth. Even the designer lavatories are boldly painted red and shiny black, evoking a sleazy nightclub.

The predominantly red stadium seats are stacked in three tiers, with VIPs allocated nearly 1,000 slightly tacky velveteen crimson chairs on the highest tier. The VIP suite just behind is already carpeted beige with big white chairs and an intricate, gold-laced ceiling.

Near the finishing line are thousands of grey press seats but the organisers at the moment are still very wary of any media activity. Laptops are banned apart from those used by local accredited journalists and there is no wireless or broadband system installed yet.

The whole Olympic Green, 40 minutes from the centre of Beijing has been transformed in the past six months. Last October the stadium stood in construction rubble with no roads, paths or greenery surrounding it. Now the roads have been laid, the steps and paving completed and thousands of spindly trees have been planted around the Olympic Green with its 31 venues including the aquatic centre, which glows turquoise at dusk.