Chinese sprinter Xie Zhenye clocked 9.97 seconds to take home the men's 100m title at the Meeting de Montreuil on Tuesday, breaking the national record by 0.02s.

Photo: VCG

This score beat his compatriot Su Bingtian's 9.99 seconds set in 2015 and 9.98 seconds set by Yoshihide Kiryū of Japan in 2017.

He said his success is due to learning with other veteran sprinters like Su Bingtian, who together with Xie and Zhang Peimeng, comprise China’s three core track and field sprint athletes.

“I still need to learn from Su in running the first half of the race,” said Xie. “I’m carving out my style, finding the way that fits me, and giving play to my advantage in step length, while overcoming the disadvantages of response and frequency.”

Xie took 100m silver and 200m gold at the 2012 Asian Junior Athletics Championships. Later he continued to prove his prowess in the 100m, in both in relays and individual competitions, becoming the second Chinese to dip under the 10-second barrier.

Xie earned gold at the Chinese National Games with his own national 200m record of 20.20 at the quadrennial multi-sport competition in 2017 in Tianjin, where he also won the 100m title at 10.04 seconds.

“It feels like a dream come true,” said Xie after defeating highly favored Su Bingtian, the national record-holder and two-time World Championship finalist, in Tianjin.

Xie made it to fourth place in the 60m at 6.52 seconds this year, his personal best.

Now seen as the top hopeful for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Xie said he is ready to take on the challenge but is also aware that the Japanese sprinter program was developed much earlier than China’s.