Chinese top sprinters look to relay success

China's Su Bingtian (R) races to the finishing line during the men's 100m semifinal at the Rio Olympics on Sunday. [Photo/Xinhua]

China's top two sprinters are eyeing their goals in team events after failing to improve the country's Olympic history on the track, missing out on individual finals berths.

Xie Zhenye and Su Bingtian, clocking 10.11 sec and 10.08 sec and ranked 7th and 4th respectively, were eliminated in the men's 100m semifinals.

"My whole condition is fine and we really hope to make it to the final in the coming relay. Su and I, we both benefited from the semifinal and are trying our best to prepare for the relay," said Xie after the semifinal.

Xie's performance in the semifinal was not as good as it was in the heats with a personal-best time of 10.08. According to him, the connecting and speed-up after the start were less smooth than that in the heat and in the latter half he couldn't compete with the western athletes.