Su finished sixth in the men’s 100m final on Sunday after qualifying joint-fastest to give China its most high-profile male athletics performance since Liu won gold in the 110m hurdles in Athens in 2004.
“He’s not just my idol, but maybe also my lucky charm,” said Su of Liu.
“I’m extremely thankful to him. He was the pioneer of China’s athletics sport.
“Without him, no one would have dared to dream to be a finalist in Olympics, to be an Olympic champion as an Asian.”
Su’s breakthrough in Tokyo reminded Chinese audiences of Liu, who became burdened with the entire nation’s expectations of further success after his gold in Athens.
Liu quit the 2008 Beijing Olympics after an injury in the final and failed to qualify to the semifinal in London after tripping over a hurdle in his heat.
However, Liu remains a major influence on Su, who works as an associate professor in the school of sports at China’s Jinan University.
There, Su co-authored a paper in 2019 on the historical developments of China’s men’s 100m race, analysing how scientific training methods and healthy competition within the team have contributed to the progress of the sport in China.
The paper went viral yesterday after his race on Sunday, with Chinese fans in awe of the progress made by Su, despite approaching his 32nd birthday later this month.
“Su is 1.77m tall and (Usain) Bolt is 1.95m. Being 32 and of this height, he is just incredible to be able to run 9.83s!” wrote one fan on China’s Twitter-like social media platform Weibo.
Su set the Asian record in the indoor 60m in England in 2018 and, the following season, started working with American coach Randy Hungtington as he set his sights on going under the 9.90s barrier.
In 2018, Su was asked about how difficult it was to run just 0.1s faster in the 100m.
“That would be too difficult. A 0.1s improvement would be very impressive. Even a 0.01s improvement is a bit difficult,” Su said in the post.
On Sunday he broke that 9.90s mark, improving his personal best by a whopping 0.09s to win his semifinal in 9.83s.
Although he posted a 9.98s run in a final won by Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs, he was delighted with his performance.
“I’ve fulfilled my dream today, and the dreams of all the Chinese sprinters before me,” a teary Su said after the race.
“I myself was stunned by the result. It was a perfect race today. Thanks to the Tokyo stadium. It may just have been my best memory in life.”