Super Su spurred on by his Shanghai surprise
Chinese ace fends off illustrious rivals for morale-boosting 100m result at Diamond League meet
Su Bingtian has set his sights on going one better on American soil after his surprise second-place finish at Saturday’s Shanghai Diamond League meet.
Although failing to defend his title in the rain, the Chinese star bettered last year’s winning time to cross the line in 10.05 seconds, just 0.01 sec behind shock winner Reece Prescod of Britain.
Su’s compatriot Xie Zhenye was third in 10.17, with American world champion Justin Gatlin only managing seventh and Canada’s 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Andre De Grasse eighth.
“It is just a start,” said Su, who will next compete at the league’s Eugene race in the United States on May 26. “I hope I can be better and better in the future.
“I have told my coach that I wanted to showcase my best form in Eugene, even just a little progress.
“I think my performance today exceeded my expectations. I was just aiming to slightly better my time from last year, so to be able to get this result is really good although the rain made it tough to hang on there for a quick dash in the last 30 meters.”
The conditions favored 22-year-old Prescod, who was seventh at last year’s world championships in London.
“I train in the East Midlands (of England) and it’s always raining there so I’m used to it,” said Prescod. “The temperature where I train is usually about four or five degrees, so having it rain on a hot and humid day like today was nice.”
With Gatlin attracting the spotlight, Su drew the loudest cheer from the stadium, where he clocked 10.09 sec last year to win his first Diamond League 100m race.
The rise of Su, the first Chinese to break the 10-second mark, has filled the void left by retired hurdler Liu Xiang, who won China’s first men’s Olympic gold medal in 110m hurdles at the 2004 Athens Games.
Saturday’s result continues Su’s impressive season after the 28-year-old set an Asian 60m record of 6.47 at an indoor meet in Karlsruhe, Germany in February.
The other highlight of the evening was a star-studded men’s 110m hurdles, which reigning world and Olympic champion Omar McLeod of Jamaica won in a worldleading 13.16 sec to complete a hat-trick of wins in Shanghai.
Cuba-born Spaniard Orlando Ortega took second in a season-best 13.17 while Russian Sergey Shubenkov was third. Jamaican Hansle Parchment and American Aries Merritt finished sixth and seventh respectively.
McLeod joked that his performance was a result of “eating all that Chinese fried rice before the race”. The 24-yearold, who pulled out of the Diamond League’s Doha opener earlier this month because of an adductor injury, said he was pleased to start his season with a win.
“I’m really happy with the start. I didn’t know what to expect coming out here. I got hurt a few months ago and this is the first race of my season. I just had to remind myself that I’m the world and Olympic champion and put on a show,” he said.
“I really love this meet, and this is especially because of the love the Chinese show for hurdles here, thanks to Liu Xiang. I always make it a point to come here and put on a show.”
China’s reigning world champion Gong Lijiao threw a world-leading 19.99 meters to win the women’s shot put ahead of Jamaican Danniel Thomas-Dodd (18.70m) and Raven Saunders of the US (18.63m).
Gong, though, was slightly disappointed with her winning distance.
“I was hoping to break the 20m mark today so it’s a pity I didn’t manage to. But I’ve had my fair share of injury problems this year so I’m happy I got the win,” she said.
“I probably won’t compete in every Diamond League meet this year so I will try to get as many points as possible in the ones I do attend.”
Lyu Huihui won the women’s javelin for China. The 28-year-old world silver medalist broke her own meet record with a winning throw of 66.26m.
I think my performance today exceeded my expectations.” Su Bingtian,
Chinese sprint star