All-view arena | Chinese Men's Sprint SOS! The Asian Championships in Athletics did not win a gold medal for the first time in 14 years
The 2023 Asian Athletics Championships ended on July 16, with China's men's sprint results mediocre: 7th and 4th in the 100m and 200m respectively, and runner-up in the 4X100m relay. It is important to note that this is the worst record of Chinese men's sprint at the Asian Championships in Athletics since 2009. There are indications that as Su Bingtian and Xie Zhenye enter the twilight years of sports, Chinese men's sprinting may fall into a trough in the next few years.
Su Bingtian, who ended the season early, did not appear at this year's Asian Championships, and Xie Zhenye, another member of the Chinese men's sprint "Gemini", gave a lot of confidence to the outside world, after all, he is the Asian record holder in the men's 200m, and his fastest speed in the 100m once reached 9.97 seconds. In the men's 100m competition, the Chinese team, which lacked a leader, had a poor record, and Chen Jiapeng finished 7th. In the men's 4X100m relay, the Chinese team, which combines old and new, performed well, finishing second in 38.87 seconds in the final. In contrast, Xie Zhenye's failure to break into the top three in the men's 200m was somewhat unexpected.
For Chinese men's sprinters, it is rare to see the Asian Championships failing to win gold in the men's 100m, 200m and 4X100m relay, most recently in 2007.
More than 10 years ago, with the rise of Zhang Peimeng, Su Bingtian and Xie Zhenye, the Chinese men's sprint blew a strong storm. Taking the Asian Championships as an example, in 2009, 2011 and 2013, Zhang Peimeng and Su Bingtian won three consecutive 100m championships, which was the first time in the history of the Asian Championships that the men's 100m trifecta was won. Xie Zhenye won the 200m gold medal at the 2013 and 2019 Asian Championships. During this period, the Chinese team won the gold medal in the men's 4X100m relay at the 2015 and 2017 Asian Championships. As a result, there were six Asian Championships held between 2009 and 2019, and the miracle of Chinese athletes winning the sprint championship every year.
During this period, it was also the first dynasty in the history of Chinese men's sprinting, Su Bingtian and Xie Zhenye set Asian records in the men's 100m and men's 200m respectively, the former has reached the Olympic Games and the World Championships men's 100m final, raising the Asian men's 100m record and performance to an unprecedented height. Together with Zhang Peimeng and Mo Youxue, they won the second place in the 4X100m relay at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, and also won the third place in the Tokyo Olympics with Tang Xingqiang and Wu Zhiqiang. Coupled with its strong appeal, men's sprinting became the most appealing sport in China's athletics during this period.
Disturbingly, in recent years, Chinese men's sprints have shown signs of stagnation. Today, Su Bingtian and Xie Zhenye are 34 and 30 years old, and they are still the two strongest sprinters in China after many years of fame.
In contrast, China's main sprint rival, Japan, continues to emerge as a rookie, winning multiple medals in the men's 4X100m relay at the World Junior Championships in the last 10 years, and winning gold at last year's World Junior Championships. Born in 2003, Yanagida has already run 10.02 seconds in the season, which is quite impactful.
The best domestic time of the season was set by Xie Zhenye, with a time of 10.05 seconds, behind the two Japanese runners. Post-00s rookie Chen Jiapeng is a highlight, the 22-year-old ran a personal best of 10.17 seconds, closely following Xie Zhenye in China, if compared with the Japanese player, can only rank 6th. The overall strength gap between China and Japan in sprinting is clear at a glance. (Wang Quanli)