Su Bingtian (; born 29 August 1989) is a professional Chinese

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete specializing in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

event. , he is the only sprinter of non-African descent to run the 100 m with sub-9.90 and sub-9.85, and the first ever Asian-born sprinter to break the

10-second barrier The 10-second barrier is the physical and psychological barrier of completing the 100 metres sprint in under ten seconds. The achievement is traditionally regarded as the hallmark of a world-class male sprinter. Its significance has become less i ...

. Su's personal best of 9.83 seconds makes him the 5th fastest man all-time in the history of

100 metres at the Olympics The 100 metres at the Summer Olympics has been contested since the first edition of the multi-sport event. The men's 100 metres has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1896. The 100 metres is considered one of the blue ribbon e ...

, the 15th fastest man all-time in the history of the 100m event, and the current holder of the 100 m Asian record. Su's personal best in the

60 metres 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior ath ...

of 6.42 seconds placed him within the top five all-time in the event. At the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

100 m final, Su made history by becoming the first sprinter of non-African descent to enter Olympic 100 metres finals since 1980. En route to his 100 m personal best 9.83 at the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the List of Olympic Games h ...

, Su ran the fastest 60 m split of all-time and the fastest 60 m ever recorded under any conditions with the time of 6.29 seconds. Su was a silver medalist at the World Indoor Championships in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

, the gold medalist at the 2018 Asian Games 100 m, a silver medalist in the relay at the World Relays in 2015, and a bronze medalist in the relay at the

Early life

Su was born on 29 August 1989, in

Zhongshan Zhongshan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is now part of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen conurbation with 65,565,622 ...

village,

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

province, China. His parents are both poor peasants who farmed their family lands in 1980s China. Even after Su later achieved national renown, his father continued to work as a security guard and his mom worked as a nanny. Su was first exposed to track and field training in middle school, after being scouted by his PE teacher who saw him touching the basketball board with ease while being only tall. His middle school didn't have any specialized sprint coach but a PE teacher. Even so, he was a back-up sprinter doing mostly managerial preparatory work for the track team throughout and didn't get to compete until 9th grade. Despite not having formal training, he ran a time (11.72) just 0.01 seconds slower than the best sprinter in the city district. Su was passed on and deemed an untalented sprinter in numerous occasions by the coaches of the city-level track and field team. It was also during middle school that Su met his life-long best friend and love of his life Yanfang Lin whom he later married.

Career

Early career

Su's career started with his entry into the

provincial track and field team in China, known for its history of producing outstanding national-level Chinese short distance sprinters and warm weather year-round which is conducive to outdoor track training. His first professional track coach and mentor Yuan Guoqiang was the first Chinese 100m national record holder in the early 80s at the start of digital-timing era and was a short (5'6) sprinter himself. When Su's admittance into Guangdong Dong track and field team was met with initial resistance by other coaches, Yuan Guoqiang took special notice of Su's personality, stride frequency and stride tempo, whom other coaches easily passed on and overlooked for his supposed lack of talent due to Su's short stature at the time. According to Yuan, Su was "methodical, professional, absolutely concentrated, and an intelligent runner. Few athletes I coached was as committed as he was to the sports". Su broke onto the continental scene with three straight wins in the

on the Asian Grand Prix series in May 2009. His first medal came in the 4×100 metres relay at the 11th Chinese Games later that year, where he helped the Guangdong team including Liang Jiahong and Wen Yongyi to the gold medal. He also began representing China internationally that year and shortly after the national games he won the gold medal over

at the

2009 Asian Indoor Games The 2009 Asian Indoor Games ( vi, Đại hội Thể thao Trong nhà châu Á 2009), officially the 3rd Asian Indoor Games ( vi, Đại hội Thể thao Trong nhà châu Á lần thứ 3) and also known as Vietnam 2009, were a pancontinential indoo ...

, running a personal best of 6.65 seconds. He was selected for the relay at the

2009 Asian Athletics Championships The 18th Asian Athletics Championships were held in Guangzhou, China in 2009. Results Men's results Track Field Women's results Track Field Medal table Participating nations * (12) * (1) * (1) * (77) * (22) * (16) * ...

and won a silver medal alongside Guo Fan, Liang Jiahong and Zhang Peimeng. He took the individual 100 m title at the

East Asian Games The East Asian Games was a multi-sport event organized by the East Asian Games Association (EAGA) and held every four years from 1993 to 2013. Among those who competed included athletes from East Asian countries and territories of the Olympic ...

, defeating Japanese rival Shintaro Kimura. He equalled the Chinese indoor record in the 60 m in

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese pro ...

in 2010, running 6.58 seconds. At the 2010 Asian Games he won the relay gold with a national and Games record time. During March 2011, Su set a new Chinese national 60 metres indoor record in

with a time of 6.56 seconds. He went on to establish himself as his country's top male sprinter that year: he won the 100 m title at the

2011 Asian Athletics Championships The 19th Asian Athletics Championships were held in Kobe, Japan between July 7–10, 2011 at the Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium. The tournament had 507 athletes from forty Asian nations competing in the 42 track and field events over the fou ...

in a personal best of 10.21 seconds, was the bronze medalist at the 2011 Summer Universiade, then competed at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in th ...

in Daegu (running in the heats of the relay). He ended the season by breaking the Chinese record to win the 100 m at the

Chinese Athletics Championships The Chinese Athletics Championships ( zh, 全国田径锦标赛) is an annual track and field competition which serves as the national championship for the People's Republic of China. It is organised by Chinese Athletic Association, China's nation ...

with a time of 10.16 seconds, improving upon Zhou Wei and Chen Haijian's former best mark. In 2012, Su qualified for the

2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was the 14th edition of the global-level indoor track and field competition and was held between March 9–11, 2012 at the Ataköy Athletics Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. It was the first of fou ...

, marking his first participation in an indoor IAAF World Championships. Su subsequently reached the semi-final of the 60m at the

. Later that year, Su also became a 100 m semi-finalist at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He ran a wind-aided (+2.9 m/s) 10.04 seconds at the start of the outdoor season and ended it by defending his national title in the 100 m. With the Chinese relay team he ran national records twice that season, timing 38.71 seconds in May and improving to 38.38 seconds with Guo Fan, Liang Jiahong and Zhang Peimeng in the heats of the Olympics. His 2013 began with two 60 m national records in

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

, where he ran 6.56 seconds and then 6.55 seconds. Zhang Peimeng beat Su's 100 m national record in May 2013, but Su quickly responded with a personal best of 10.06 seconds at the

IAAF World Challenge Beijing IAAF World Challenge Beijing is an annual track and field competition held in Beijing, China, in May. First held in 2013, it takes place at the Beijing National Stadium, the venue for the Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics. It is part of the ...

. Later that year, Su qualified for the

2013 IAAF World Championships The 14th IAAF World Championships in Athletics (Moscow 2013) () was an international athletics competition held in Moscow, Russia, from 10–18 August 2013. Initially, Russia won the most gold medals to top the table for the first time since 200 ...

, marking his first participation in an outdoor IAAF World Championships in an individual event. On 10 August 2013, Su raced in the sixth heat of the first round in the

, subsequently qualifying to the semi-finals by clocking 10.16 seconds. The following day, he was drawn into the first semi-final against former world champion

Justin Gatlin Justin Alexander Gatlin (born February 10, 1982) is a retired American sprinter who competed in the 60 meters, 100 meters, and 200 meters. He is the 2004 Olympic Champion in the 100 meters, the 2005 and 2017 World Champion in the 100 meters, the ...

. Su was disqualified in the race due to his false start, thereby rendering him unable to progress to the finals. Su's compatriot Zhang Peimeng also once again replaced Su as the 100 m national record holder, by clocking a time of 10.00 seconds in the semi-finals of the

2014

Starting from 2014, Su Bingtian was part of the Chinese Track and Field initiative led by its national head coach Yuan Guoqiang (Su's early mentor and provincial coach in Guangdong Track and Field team) that 1）sent its top track athletes to USA for more systematic and scientific training in order to be competitive internationally 2) hired competent foreign track coaches to coach locally at China. They trained at the IMF Academy Track & Field and Cross Country located at Florida. Su's aim was to break 10 second barrier through participating in this initiative. It was through this initiative that Su first met his later mentor and coach Randy Huntington, who was responsible for coaching Chinese national team of long jumpers at the time in China. Their encounter was not pre-planned. It was by coincidence that Randy Huntington chanced upon Su's training nearby. Su's decision to change his starting leg was a reaction to Randy Huntington's suggestion. Randy performed a test on Su by pushing him randomly when he was not prepared, and the first step Su took in reaction to this push was taken by his right one. Randy suggested he changed his starting leg to the right one for that would fit Su's natural neurological pattern better.The aim was to change his entire 100m pace and allow him suffer from less de-acceleration after the first 60m while maintaining his advantage at explosive start in the first half of the race. At the beginning of his transition to change starting leg, Su was for a time even slower out of block than a female sprinter when he trained at IMF Academy after he returned to USA. His first 60m race after implementing the change was only 6.71 and his 100m best was 10.80. Yuan Guoqiang said that Su was so obsessed with perfecting his start at the time that he would work on his block start even when he was taking a walk, woke up in the middle of the night and contemplated why he couldn't perform the move as well as other world class athletes, and he would proceed to discuss the matter with his teammate

Xie Zhenye Xie Zhenye (, born August 17, 1993) is a Chinese sprinter. He is the current Asian record holder of the 200 metres with a time of 19.88 seconds. Xie's personal best in the 100 metres of 9.97 seconds makes him the second Chinese sprinter to reco ...

2015

On May 30, 2015, at the

Prefontaine Classic The Prefontaine Classic, an Oregon Track Club event, is one of the premier track and field meets in the United States, held in Eugene, Oregon. Every year it draws a world caliber field to compete at Hayward Field on the campus of the University ...

in Eugene, Oregon, Su clocked a historic 9.99 seconds in the 100 m, becoming the first

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

n- born sprinter to achieve a sub-10 second clocking. Su's historic sub-10 second clocking allowed him once again to regain the 100 m national record from compatriot Zhang Peimeng, ending their national record 'tug-of-war' which had begun in 2013. Su's coach Yuan Guoqiang later stated that: "Zhang Peimeng's 10.00 national record set at the World Championships in Moscow has given him (Su) more courage; it convinced him (Su) even more that a sub-10 clocking was not an impossible mission for Chinese athletes." Later that year, Su qualified for the 2015 IAAF World Championships which were held in his home country of China. On 22 August 2015, Su raced in the first heat of the first round of the

finishing second behind Asafa Powell in 10.03 seconds. The following day, he was drawn in the first semi-final against defending champion

Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt, , (; born 21 August 1986) is a retired Jamaican sprinter, widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He is the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay. An eight-ti ...

. Su finished in fourth clocking a time of 9.986 seconds tying Jimmy Vicaut's time in the third semi-final; since they were tied for the eighth-fastest time, they were both entered into the final, marking the first-ever nine-man final in

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

history. Su then raced in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

, finishing 9th with a time of 10.06 seconds. Su subsequently became the first ever Asian-born athlete to run in a 100 m

final. On 29 August 2015, Su raced with his teammates Mo Youxue,

and Zhang Peimeng in the

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the indiv ...

. Running the third leg, Su aided his team to a third-place finish in the heats, qualifying them for the final with a then Asian record time of 37.92 seconds. In the

, the Chinese team crossed the line in third behind the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

in 38.01 seconds, giving them a Bronze Medal finish. However, subsequent disqualification of the United States due to improper baton exchange meant that the Chinese team were promoted to a Silver medal finish in the Bird's Nest Stadium; with their Bronze being awarded to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

2016

With his eyes on the 2016 Summer Olympics, Su began the year by running the

at various indoor meets in the US, ultimately qualifying for the

2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 16th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held between March 17 and 20, 2016 in Portland, Oregon, United States. The event did not feature Russia. Following a WADA investigation into widespread and institutional doping practice ...

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

. On March 18, 2016, Su won his 60 metres heat at the championships with a time of 6.64 seconds. Later in the day, Su finished second in his semi-final clocking 6.50 seconds; a new personal best and equalling the Asian record. He went on to finish fifth in the

with a time of 6.54 seconds. Outdoors, Su ran only three meets before the Olympics. He and his teammates ran and won two 4 x 100 metre relay races in his home country of China; one in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

at the

Shanghai Golden Grand Prix The Diamond League Shanghai is an annual athletics event at the Shanghai Stadium in Shanghai, China as part of the Diamond League. The meeting was founded as the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix in 2005. The meet assumed its current name in 2010. From ...

; and one in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

at the

. On May 26, 2016, Su finished seventh in 100 metres at the 2016

in a wind-aided 10.04 seconds, unable to repeat the success he had on the same track the year before. Su arrived in Rio de Janeiro for the Olympic Games, having qualified for the 100 metres and the 4 × 100 metres relay. In the

, Su finished third in his heat in 10.17 seconds, qualifying him as one of the fastest losers for the semi-final. The following day, on August 14, 2016, Su finished fourth in his semi-final in 10.08 seconds; a season's best time. However, his time was unable to qualify him for the final. 4 days later, on August 18, 2016, Su raced with his teammates Tang Xingqiang,

and Zhang Peimeng in the heats of the 4 × 100 metre relay. Running the third leg, Su helped his team to a second-place finish in their heat behind the

. Their time of 37.82 seconds set a new Asian record for the event. The following day, the Chinese team finished fourth in the

following a disqualification by team USA, narrowly missing out on an Olympic medal. Su ended his season after the Olympics.

2017

On 27 May 2017, Su once again achieved a sub-10 second time in the 100 m at the 2017 Prefontaine Classic with a personal best 9.92 seconds. However, the tailwind (+2.4 m/s) was above the allowed limit of 2.0 m/s, invalidating the time as an official national record or personal best. Later that year, Su qualified for the

2017 IAAF World Championships Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japane ...

. On 4 August 2017, Su raced in the fourth heat of the first round in the

subsequently qualifying to the semi-finals by clocking 10.03 seconds. The following day, he was drawn in the second semi-final against former world champion

Yohan Blake Yohan Blake (born 26 December 1989) is a Jamaican sprinter specialising in the 100-metre and 200-metre sprint races. He won gold at the 100 m at the 2011 World Athletics Championships as the youngest 100 m world champion ever, and a silver me ...

. Su finished in third clocking a time of 10.10 seconds putting him through to the

where he subsequently finished 8th with a time of 10.27 seconds.

2018

Various stellar performances by Su Bingtian in 2018 made it a historically significant year for Chinese athletics. On 3 March 2018, Su made history by becoming the first male Chinese sprinter to win an individual

IAAF World Indoor Championships The World Athletics Indoor Championships are a biennial indoor track and field competition served as the global championship for that version of the sport. Organised by the World Athletics, the competition was inaugurated as the ''World Indoor G ...

medal, as he took silver in the 2018 edition's men's 60 metres final. Su's 6.42 second performance in the event made him the current holder of the 60 m Asian record; it also places Su within the top 5 of all-time 60 metres performances. On 22 June 2018, Su took gold in the men's 100 metres final of the 2018

IAAF World Challenge The IAAF World Challenge was an annual, global circuit of one-day track and field competitions organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). First held in 2010, it replaced the IAAF Grand Prix and IAAF Super Grand Pri ...

meet in Madrid with a historic 9.91 seconds; tying the Asian record previously set by

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

n-born

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

i Femi Ogunode. Su's result of 9.91 seconds also simultaneously allowed him to regain his 100 m national record which compatriot

had broken only three days earlier with a time of 9.97 seconds. One week later, Su continued his fantastic form by equalling his 9.91-second Asian record at the 2018

Meeting de Paris Meeting de Paris (formerly known as the Meeting Areva and Meeting Gaz de France) is an annual track and field meeting at the Stade Sébastien Charléty in Paris, France. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamon ...

. On 26 August 2018, Su won the gold medal in the men's 100 metres event at the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 Augus ...

. He won the event with a time of 9.92 seconds breaking the Asian Games record previously set by Femi Ogunode at the 2014 Asian Games. Representing team Asia-Pacific, Su capped of his record-breaking year with a silver medal in the

2018 IAAF Continental Cup The 2018 IAAF Continental Cup is an international track and field sporting event that was held in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on 8–9 September 2018. It is the third edition of the IAAF Continental Cup since the name and format was changed from ...

men's 100 m final. Su finished 0.02 seconds behind team

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

representative

Noah Lyles Noah Lyles (born July 18, 1997) is an American professional track and field sprinter competing in the 100 meters and 200 meters. He is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic 200 m bronze medalist and a two-time World champion, having won the event at the ...

, with a time of 10.03 seconds. Reflecting on his 2018 performances, Su remarked the following: "It is really a miraculous and amazing year for me, the most memorable one in my career. I achieved a series of good results, and most importantly, I made such results in competing with the best sprinters in the world, which was quite a boost to my confidence."

2019

At the end of 2018, Su made it known that his sights were now set on breaking the 9.90 second barrier in the 100 m as his primary goal for 2019. On 14 February 2019, Su started the year out strong with a 60m victory at the 2019

AIT An ait (, like ''eight'') or eyot () is a small island. It is especially used to refer to river islands found on the River Thames and its tributaries in England. Aits are typically formed by the deposit of sediment in the water, which accumu ...

International Grand Prix, clocking a stadium-record time of 6.52 seconds. Two days later, Su quickly followed up his good form with a resounding 60m victory at the Birmingham meet of the 2019 IAAF World Indoor Tour. The winning time was clocked at 6.47 seconds beating out rivals Reece Prescod and

Mike Rodgers Michael Rodgers (born April 24, 1985) is an American professional track and field sprinter who specializes in the 100 m and the 60 m. He won the gold medal in the 100m relay in Doha 2019. He is also the Pan-Am Games Champion. Career ...

to the gold. At the 2019 IAAF World Relays, Su raced with his teammates Wu Zhiqiang,

and Liang Jinsheng in the

. Running the third leg, Su aided his teammates to a second-place finish in the heats, qualifying them for the final with a time of 38.51 seconds. In the final, the Chinese team crossed the line in a season's best 38.16 seconds, subsequently missing out on a bronze medal finish by just 0.01 seconds.

2021

On 1 August 2021, Su clocked a time of 9.827 seconds to win his heat of the

men's 100 m semi-finals, thereby setting a new Asian record and becoming the second Asian sprinter to have ever qualified for a men's 100 metres Olympic final, after Takayoshi Yoshioka at the 1932 Summer Olympics and the first Asian to qualify for 100m Olympic Final since the start of the digtal timing era. Between 1980 and 2020, Su is the only sprinter of non-African descent to ever make Olympic 100m Men's Finals in a span of 40 years. In the semi-finals Su was placed ahead of eventual gold-medalist

Marcell Jacobs Lamont Marcell Jacobs Jr. (born 26 September 1994) is an Italian track and field sprinter and former long jumper. He is the 2020 Olympic 100 metres champion, the 2022 60 metres world champion, the 2022 European 100 metres champion, and a memb ...

and also achieved the fastest time ever recorded for 60m-split with 6.29 seconds, also the fastest 60m all-time under any conditions surpassing both Usain Bolt's prior record of 6.31 seconds for 60m split in his 100 m world record run and Christian Coleman's 6.34 official indoor world record. Su's 9.83 also placed him among the top 5 fastest men in the history of Olympic 100m races ranking just behind Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Justin Gatlin, and Marcel Jacobs. Su subsequently went on to achieve a sixth place finish in the final with 9.98 seconds. He and his teammates also qualified for the final of the men's 4×100 m relay and finished fourth in that race in 37.79 seconds, equalling the Chinese national record set in 2019. On 18 February 2022,

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

was stripped of its silver medal in the men's 4×100 m relay after the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its c ...

confirmed CJ Ujah’s doping violation. Su and his teammates were subsequently promoted to a bronze medal position.

Personal life

Education

In 2017, Su graduated with a master's degree from the International Economics and Trade from the College of Economics at

Jinan University Jinan University (JNU, ) is a public research university based in Guangzhou, China. "Jinan" literally means "reaching southward", indicating the university's original mission to disseminate Chinese learning and culture from North to South when ...

. In April 2018, Su was officially appointed as an associate professor of the School of Physical Education at

Family

Su is a native of

Guzhen, Guangdong Guzhen () is a town situated on the northwest periphery of the city of Zhongshan, Pearl River Delta, Guangdong Province, some from the city center. The town is best known for manufacturing lighting. In recent years the town has grown into a pl ...

, China. On October 10, 2017, Su Bingtian wed his childhood sweetheart Lin Yanfang. The wedding ceremony was held in

, a town close to where Su and Lin grew up. In the early morning of July 11, 2018, their son was born.

Outside athletics

On December 20, 2017, Su was elected as one of Zhongshan City's representatives for the 13th People's Congress of Guangdong Province. As the representative for Chinese athletes, Su attended 'The 3rd Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) Athletes’ Forum' held in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan from 24–25 November 2018.

Charitable activities

On September 19, 2015, Su led dozens of school students on

Ersha Island Ersha Island, formerly Napier Island in English, is an island in the Yuexiu District of Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China. It houses the American International School of Guangzhou elementary school campus, several apartment complexes, a badmin ...

to help with fundraising activities for the Chinese charity "Walking for Love". The money raised for "Walking For Love" was intended to be used for the promotion of children's reading skills. On November 10, 2015, Su visited various Guangzhou Power Supply power grid substations to help conduct on-site measurements. Su also undertook power grid construction work to provide electricity to an elderly man's home. Su's visit came after a typhoon incident in

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

where Guangzhou Power Supply grid workers managed to fix power grids within only 5 hours of going down. After the visit, Su commented that "the existence and construction of the power grid required the collective support of everyone".

Statistics

Information from

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

profile unless otherwise noted.

Personal bests

International championship results

Circuit wins

;Outdoor * Diamond League (Event in parenthesis) **

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

(100 m),

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

( relay) **

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: 2017 ( relay) ;Indoor * World Indoor Tour (60 m) ** Overall winner:

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: 2018 **

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: 2018,

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: 2018 **

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: 2019

National championship results

Sub-10 seconds 100 metres record

Su Bingtian has broken the

in the 100 metres on 13 occasions, with 10 of those occasions being under the allowable wind velocity of +2.0 m/s for record purposes. His first sub-10 clocking was on 30 May 2015 at the

in 9.99 seconds with a legal +1.5 m/s wind reading, setting a Chinese record and making him the first athlete of either Chinese or eastern Asian descent to break the 10-second barrier. He improved his personal best and the Chinese record on 22 June 2018 at the Meeting Madrid to 9.91 seconds, equaling the Asian record set by Nigerian-born Qatari sprinter Femi Ogunode, and further improved all three of these records on 1 August 2021 by clocking 9.83 seconds to win his semifinal heat at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Seasonal bests

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Su, Bingtian Living people 1989 births Chinese male sprinters People from Zhongshan Cantonese people Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of China Athletes from Guangdong Jinan University alumni World Athletics Championships athletes for China World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists Asian Games gold medalists for China Asian Games silver medalists for China Asian Games bronze medalists for China Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade bronze medalists for China Runners from Guangdong Asian Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 2011 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for China Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field)