Ge Tian, the ex-wife of Liu Xiang, cries as she arrives in Beijing at midnight Thursday, following her divorce from the former star hurdler, June 25, 2015. [Photo/IC]

The announcement was forwarded more than 60,000 times and more than 70,000 users left comments in the first hour.

Many people were obviously stunned.

"It feels like yesterday when you got married," wrote Weibo user @Yixinxiangfanf, calling for more prudence towards marriage. @KFEEE lamented that divorce had become as easy and common as shopping.

However, many of Liu's supporters said they respect individual decisions and wish the separated couple better lives in future.