As the weather gradually warmed up, the Chinese track and field season started in Chengdu. On February 27, the Chengdu Station of the National Indoor Track and Field Grand Prix started, and in the men's 60-meter preliminaries, Su Bingtian made his debut in the new season, running 6.70 seconds, ranking second in the preliminaries. Chen Guanfeng ranked first in the preliminaries in 6.69 seconds. This battle also marks Su Bingtian's fourth journey to the Olympic Games.
In 2023, Chinese sprinter Su Bingtian was affected by injuries and the epidemic and announced his withdrawal from events such as the Hangzhou Asian Games, ending the 2023 season ahead of schedule. Outside discussions about whether Su Bingtian will retire on this began to increase. With Su Bingtian's arrival in Chengdu, it was also announced that the 34-year-old flyer got rid of injury and returned to the professional arena. As the opening event of the 2024 season, the men's 60m preliminaries of the Chengdu Station of the National Indoor Track and Field Grand Prix were divided into 30 groups. Chen Guanfeng, a junior who trained at Jinan University with Su Bingtian, won the first place in the preliminaries in 6.69 seconds.
Su Bingtian started the new season with a smooth performance in the preliminaries, and also took the first step for him to hit the Olympic Games for the fourth time. Next, Su Bingtian will also participate in the 4 100m relay test organized by the Chinese Athletics Association. According to the notice issued by the Chinese Athletics Association, Su Bingtian will participate in the domestic group test on the 29th, and there are also Guangdong teammates Chen Guanfeng and Yan Haibin on the list, and the test location is the Xipu track and field base in Chengdu, Sichuan. Xie Zhenye, Chen Jiapeng, Wu Zhiqiang, and Deng Zhijian are currently in winter training in the United States and will be tested locally. Previously, Su Bingtian had said that he was sure that he would qualify for the 4 100m relay in track and field for the Paris Olympics. After passing the domestic test, Su Bingtian is expected to join the national team and compete in the World Relay World Championships after running in with his teammates to qualify for the Olympics.
In the more high-profile individual Olympic events, Su Bingtian has yet to make an official response. According to the qualification announced for the Paris Olympics, the men's 100m runners need to run the 10-second mark to qualify for the Olympics. Su Bingtian needs to cross the 10-second mark as soon as possible after the start of this year's World Outdoor Season to catch the last train to the Olympics.
This is Su Bingtian's fourth Olympic appearance. Su Bingtian made his Olympic debut at London 2012, where he finished third in the men's 100m race with a time of 10.19 seconds to reach the semi-finals, becoming the first Chinese sprinter in history to qualify for the semi-finals of the men's 100m at the Olympics. In the 4 100m preliminaries of the London Olympics, the Chinese team composed of Su Bingtian, Guo Fan, Liang Jiahong and Zhang Peimeng broke the national record with a time of 38.38 seconds, but ranked 12th overall and failed to enter the final.
Four years later, at the Rio Olympics, Su Bingtian ran 10.08 seconds to successfully advance to the men's 100m semifinals, and in the men's 4 100m relay preliminaries of the Rio Olympics, the Chinese team Tang Xingqiang, Xie Zhenye, Su Bingtian and Zhang Peimeng ran a time of 37.82 seconds, breaking the Asian record and advancing to the final. In the final, Su Bingtian, Tang Xingqiang, Xie Zhenye, and Zhang Peimeng won the fourth place in 37.90 seconds.
The men's 100m semi-finals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics became the highlight of Su Bingtian's career, as he ran 9.83 seconds to win the first place in the semi-finals and break the Asian record, becoming the first Chinese athlete to reach the Olympic men's 100m final. In that race, Su Bingtian's first 60m time reached 6.29 seconds, bringing the first 60m segment of the 100m to 6.30 seconds for the first time. In the final, Su Bingtian once again opened the 10-second mark and finished sixth with a time of 9.98 seconds. Then in the men's 4 100m relay final, Tang Xingqiang, Xie Zhenye, Su Bingtian and Wu Zhiqiang represented the Chinese team and won the fourth place.
Text: Beijing Youth Daily reporter Chu Peng.