An Open Arena

By Lu Yan

Su Bingtian is a name that glued many Chinese to their televisions for the Olympic Summer Games Tokyo 2020. The 31-year-old sprinter made history on August 1 as he became the first Chinese to qualify for an Olympic Mens 100m Final， after setting the new Asian record of 9.83 seconds in the semifinal. He finished sixth with 9.98 seconds in the final.

“Su， come on， man. We did it！” Randy Huntington， Sus American coach， said after the race in an interview with China Daily via video link， adding that Su gave 100 percent in the semifinal already， a tough feat to repeat in the final.

Huntington was among those foreign coaches behind the scenes working with Team China at Tokyo 2020. With their help， Chinese athletes have made progress， secured medals and broken records in traditionally Western-dominated events.

“The Olympic Games are an open arena. The flow and exchanges of foreign coaches will not only help us overcome our technical shortcomings in certain events， but， more importantly， promote sportsmanship and fairer competition，” Huang Yaling， a professor at Beijing Sport University， said. “The world is getting more closely connected， and Chinas sports development should pool more ideas and energy.”

Unsung heroes

An elite coach for over 40 years， Huntington has trained several world-class athletes like American triple jump champion William Augustus Banks III， and Mike Powell， holder of the long jump world record. Since 2013， Huntington has been working with Chinas track and field team. After meeting Su， Huntington knew he could have a promising future. In 2017， Huntington became Sus head coach and worked with him on his specific challenges such as a lack of confidence and how to use his strengths properly.

With Huntingtons targeted coaching， the Chinese sprinter clocked 9.92 seconds in the Mens 100m Final at the Asian Games in Jakarta， Indonesia， in 2018， winning his first gold. “Im proud to win honors for my country， but I do hope for more at the Olympic Games，” Su said. His wish came true in the semifinals there.

When talking about Sus last two races at Tokyo 2020， Huntington believes the sprinter could have finished on the podium. “9.98 [seconds] is not exactly slow， but it wasnt under 9.90 [seconds] which I was hoping we could do，” Huntington said， mentioning that the distraction from the false start of one of the finalists affected Sus performance.