Chinese sprinter Su Bingtian grabbed gold in the 100m category but failed to break the Asian record on Sunday and Iranian sprinter Hassan Taftian finished sixth in the Jakarta Asian Games. Su could not improve his personal best in his triumphant 100m sprint but the Chinese sprinter is happy as long as the gold medals keep coming, Reuters reported.
Su was the first Asian-born sprinter to run the event under 10 seconds and shares the continental record with Qatar’s Nigerian-born Femi Ogunode at 9.91 seconds.
While he could not better that mark on a hot and humid Sunday in Jakarta, he still managed to win the gold in an Asian Games record time of 9.92 seconds.
He held off his opponents with a late burst of speed to keep ahead of Femi’s younger brother Tosin Ogunode and Japan’s Ryota Yamagata - both credited with a time of 10.00 seconds.
“You won’t be guaranteed a gold medal just with your skills; it also depends on your performance and your attitude. All my competitors were very experienced like myself but whether or not you can break through really depends on your performance. For me what’s important is to prove that I still have potential. This event, for example, I got gold and didn’t disappoint anyone, that’s enough,” Su said.
Su was also the first Asian-born sprinter to reach the world championships 100m final but finished last in London last year.
The fastest man in the history of Iran, Hassan Taftian was highly expected to win a medal as he has been winning gold medals in 60m and 100m categories in the past three years in Asian Championships, Asian Indoor Championships as well as Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games. He finished the 100 meters on Sunday in 10.19 seconds and took sixth place.
His personal bet at 100m was set earlier this year in Paris with 10.03 seconds. However with the same record of 10.19 (similar to that of the current Asian Games) Taftian won the gold medal at the Elite Meeting Games in Forbach, France, in May.
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