Su Bingtian

Su Bingtian (Chinese: 苏炳添; pinyin: Sū Bǐngtiān; born 29 August 1989) is a Chinese sprinter. He was the first ever Asian-born sprinter to break the 10-second barrier of the 100 metres event in track and field. His personal best in the 100 metres makes him the current co-holder of the 100 m Asian record, which is shared with Nigerian-born Qatari Femi Ogunode. Su's personal best in the 60 metres of 6.42 seconds makes him the current holder of the 60 m Asian record and places him within the top five of all-time 60 metres performances.

Early career

Su broke onto the continental scene with three straight wins in the 100 metres 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 60 metres at the 2009 Asian Indoor Games, running a personal best of 6.65 seconds. He was selected for the relay at the 2009 Asian Athletics Championships 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, defeating Japanese rival Shintaro Kimura.

He equalled the Chinese indoor record in the 60 m in Chengdu 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 Chengdu 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 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 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 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, marking his first participation in an indoor IAAF World Championships. Su subsequently reached the semi-final of the 60m at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships. 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, 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.

Later that year, Su qualified for the 2013 IAAF World Championships, 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 100 metres, 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. 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 2013 IAAF World Championships.

2015

On May 30, 2015, at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, Su clocked a historic 9.99 seconds in the 100 m, becoming the first Asian-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 100 metres 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. 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 history. Su then raced in the final, finishing 9th with a time of 10.06 seconds. Su subsequently became the first ever Asian-born athlete to run in a 100 m World Championship final.

On 29 August 2015, Su raced with his teammates Mo Youxue, Xie Zhenye and Zhang Peimeng in the 4 × 100 metres relay. 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 final, the Chinese team crossed the line in third behind the United States and Jamaica 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.

2016

With his eyes on the 2016 Summer Olympics, Su began the year by running the 60 metres at various indoor meets in the US, ultimately qualifying for the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregon. 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 final 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 at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix; and one in Beijing at the IAAF World Challenge Beijing. On May 26, 2016, Su finished seventh in 100 metres at the 2016 Prefontaine Classic 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 100 metres, 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, Xie Zhenye 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 United States. Their time of 37.82 seconds set a new Asian record for the event. The following day, the Chinese team finished fourth in the final 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. On 4 August 2017, Su raced in the fourth heat of the first round in the 100 metres 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. Su finished in third clocking a time of 10.10 seconds putting him through to the final 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 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 meet in Madrid with a historic 9.91 seconds; tying the Asian record previously set by Nigerian-born Qatari Femi Ogunode. Su's result of 9.91 seconds also simultaneously allowed him to regain his 100 m national record which compatriot Xie Zhenye 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.

On 26 August 2018, Su won the gold medal in the men's 100 metres event at the 2018 Asian Games. 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 men's 100 m final. Su finished 0.02 seconds behind team Americas representative Noah Lyles, 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 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 to the gold.

At the 2019 IAAF World Relays, Su raced with his teammates Wu Zhiqiang, Xie Zhenye and Liang Jinsheng in the 4 × 100 metres relay. 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.

Education

In 2017, Su obtained a degree in International Economics and Trade from the College of Economics at Jinan University. During April 2018, Su was officially appointed as an associate professor of the School of Physical Education at Jinan University.

Family

On October 10, 2017, Su Bingtian wed his childhood sweetheart Lin Yanfang. The wedding ceremony was held in Guzhen, Guangdong, a town close to where Su and Lin grew up. In the early morning of July 11, 2018, Su Bingtian and Lin Yanfang's 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 Guandong Province.

As the representative for Chinese athletes, Su attended 'The 3rd Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) Athletes’ Forum' held in Tokyo, Japan from 24–25 November 2018.

Charitable activities

On September 19, 2015, Su led dozens of school students on Ersha Island 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 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.".

Information from IAAF profile unless otherwise noted.

Personal bests

Seasonal bests

International championship results

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Time	Wind	Notes
Representing  China
2009	Asian Indoor Games	Hanoi, Vietnam	1st	60 m	6.65	n/a	PB
	Asian Championships	Guangzhou, China	1st	4×100 m relay	39.07	n/a	PB
	East Asian Games	Hong Kong	1st	100 m	10.33	+0.1
			3rd	4×100 m relay	39.86	n/a
2010	Asian Games	Guangzhou, China	1st	4×100 m relay	38.78	n/a	GR, PB
2011	Asian Championships	Kobe, Japan	1st	100 m	10.21	+1.8	PB
			4th	4×100 m relay	39.33	n/a
	Universiade	Shenzhen, China	1st	100 m	10.27	−0.2
	World Championships	Daegu, Korea	6th (semi 2)	4×100 m relay	38.87	n/a	SB
2012	World Indoor Championships	Istanbul, Turkey	1st (semi 3)	60 m	6.74	n/a	SB
	Olympic Games	London, England	8th (semi 3)	100 m	10.28	+1.0
			5th (semi 1)	4×100 m relay	38.38	n/a	NR, PB
2013	Asian Championships	Pune, India	1st	100 m	10.17	−0.3
			3rd	4×100 m relay	39.17	n/a	SB
	World Championships	Moscow, Russia	DQ (semi 1)	100 m	—	−0.2	False start
			5th (semi 2)	4×100 m relay	38.95	n/a	SB
	East Asian Games	Tianjin, China	1st	100 m	10.31	−0.1
			3rd	4×100 m relay	39.19	n/a
2014	World Indoor Championships	Sopot, Poland	4th	60 m	6.52	n/a	NR, PB
	Asian Games	Incheon, South Korea	2nd	100 m	10.10	+0.4	SB
			1st	4×100 m relay	37.99	n/a	GR, AR, NR, PB
2015	Asian Championships	Wuhan, China	1st	4×100 m relay	39.04	n/a
	World Championships	Beijing, China	9th	100 m	10.06	−0.5
			2nd	4×100 m relay	38.01	n/a
2016	World Indoor Championships	Portland, Oregon	5th	60 m	6.54	n/a
	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	4th (semi 3)	100 m	10.08	0.0	SB
			4th	4×100 m relay	37.90	n/a
2017	World Relays	Nassau, Bahamas	3rd	4×100 m relay	39.22	n/a
	World Championships	London, England	8th	100 m	10.27	−0.7
			4th	4×100 m relay	38.34	n/a
2018	World Indoor Championships	Birmingham, England	2nd	60 m	6.42	n/a	AR, NR, PB
	Asian Games	Jakarta, Indonesia	1st	100 m	9.92	+0.8	GR
			3rd	4×100 m relay	38.89	n/a
2019	World Relays	Yokohama, Japan	4th	4×100 m relay	38.16	n/a	SB
	World Championships	Doha, Qatar	21st	100 m	10.23	–0.3
2018	Continental Cup	Ostrava, Czech Republic	2nd	100 m	10.03	0.0

National championship results

Circuit wins

60 metres

• World Indoor Tour
  • Overall Winner: 2018
  • Karlsruhe: 2018
  • Düsseldorf: 2018, 2019
  • Glasgow: 2018
  • Birmingham: 2019

100 metres

• Diamond League
  • Shanghai: 2017

4 × 100 metres relay

• Diamond League
  • Shanghai: 2016
  • Monaco: 2017

Sub-10 seconds 100 metres record

Su Bingtian has broken the 10-second barrier in the 100 metres on 8 occasions, with 5 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 Prefontaine Classic 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. His most recent sub-10 clocking was on 26 August 2018 at the Asian Games in a games record of 9.92 seconds.