Su Bingtian finished sixth in the men’s 100m final as Italy’s Marcell Jacobs took Olympic gold in 9.80 seconds on Sunday night.
The Chinese sprinter’s poor start cost him a chance of a medal in what was a competitive race. Fred Kerley of the USA finished second and Andre De Grasse of Canada took bronze.
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Su draped himself in the Chinese flag after his historic race, in which he finished in 9.98 seconds.
The field was reduced by one as Zharnel Hughes of Britain jumped the gun and was disqualified, just as he was at the Olympic trials.
Jacobs becomes Italy‘s first 100m Olympic champion, after running a new European record.
“It’s been my dream since I was a child,” said the US-born Jacobs, who moved to Europe with his Italian mother when he was a month old.
“I need a week or so to understand what has happened. Seeing [compatriot] Gimbo [Tamberi] win the high jump gold [10 minutes earlier] fired me up a lot.
“I’ve won an Olympic gold after Usain Bolt, it’s unbelievable. Tonight, staring at the ceiling perhaps I will realise.”
Su had already made history on Sunday by becoming the first Chinese runner in the men’s 100m final and only the second Asian. Japan’s Takayoshi Yoshioka was the first Asian in the men’s 100m final when he raced at the 1932 Olympics.
China‘s only track medal at the Olympics was the gold won by Liu Xiang in the 110m hurdles at Athens in 2004. Liu limped out of his defence in Beijing.
Guangzhou sprinter Su entered into Sunday night’s showpiece as the fastest qualifier, although there was barely a hair’s breadth between him and US runner Ronnie Baker and Italy’s Lamont Jacobs, who also clocked in at 9.83 in their third semi-final.
That new Asian record in the 100m semi final was a barnstorming 9.83 seconds, far eclipsing his previous fastest run of the year of 9.98, the 18th-fastest time in 2021 going into Tokyo.
“In the semi-finals, I have made history. When it comes to the finals, standing on the starting line is a victory,” Su said.
“The semi-finals are already super-level, and the physical strength has been exhausted. Such a short [time between races] is another extreme challenge.
“The next goal is to break through 10 seconds in the final no matter how much you run.
“For me, today may be the best memory of my life.”
Su’s semi run moved him to second fastest this season behind only Trayvon Bromell’s 9.77 and the 31-year-old was ahead of both runners going into a race where history was going to be made.
With Usain Bolt retired there was going to be a new name in the record books.
Bolt won the last three finals, dating back to his incredible arrival on the Olympic scene in Beijing in 2008.
Bolt’s 9.69 world record set in the National Stadium that night blew away the benchmark in the blue riband sprint event, only for the Jamaican to run 9.63 in London four years later – the current Olympic record.
Su and the rest of the field have never been close to either of Bolt’s first gold-winning times or his 2009 world record mark of 9.58 set at the World Championships.
Su ran 9.92 to win the Asian Games in 2018 – a Games record – and his personal best before the Tokyo semi was 9.91 – an Asian record – which he ran twice in a week in Europe in June 2018. With wind assistance he also ran a 9.90 the month before in the US.
