Chinese star sprinter Su Bingtian ran his final race on Thursday, finishing fourth with his teammates in the men's 4x100-meter relay at the 15th National Games to conclude a groundbreaking 21-year career.
The 36-year-old, who now serves as dean of the School of Physical Education at Jinan University, competed in front of a near full-capacity crowd in the 45,000-seater Guangdong Olympic Sports Center in a farewell for the athlete who transformed Asian sprinting.
"Although I said goodbye today, I won't leave the track field that I love. I hope in the future, I can contribute to China's track field, support young racers who love sprint to realize their dreams, as well as help generations of Chinese sprinters to take the lead and excel in international competitions," said Su.
Su's career was defined by historic milestones. In 2012, he became the first Chinese sprinter to reach an Olympic 100-meter semifinal in London. Three years later, he ran 9.99 seconds at the Diamond League in Eugene, Oregon, becoming the first Asian-born athlete to break the 10-second barrier.
By 2018, he had set multiple Asian records in the 60-meter, won a World Indoor Championships silver medal and captured the Asian Games 100-meter title in a record 9.92 seconds. His crowning achievement came at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where he ran 9.83 seconds in the 100-meter, becoming the first Chinese man to reach an Olympic 100-meter final. He also helped China's 4x100-meter relay team win bronze.
The 15th National Games, running from Nov 9 to 21, mark the first time that the three Chinese regions, namely Guangdong Province, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and the Macao Special Administrative Region, are co-hosting the country's highest-level and largest national multi-sport event.
China's iconic sprinter Su Bingtian bids emotional farewell in final race at National Games
The United Arab Emirates' decision to withdraw from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) signals a broader strategic recalibration as the Gulf producer seeks to diversify its energy export routes and reduce vulnerability to regional chokepoints, according to a Middle East affairs expert.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced Tuesday it will withdraw from OPEC, marking the end of its decades-long alignment with the cartel.
Against this backdrop, the UAE is actively exploring alternative logistics pathways to safeguard its energy exports. A key focus is developing overland connections to bypass the strategically sensitive Strait of Hormuz.
"The UAE's primary energy loading and unloading ports are currently located in the Gulf region, within the Strait of Hormuz. However, given the increasingly uncertain security situation around the Strait of Hormuz, the UAE has gradually come to realize that its existing transportation system -- which relies on transit through the Strait of Hormuz to connect with international energy markets -- will be difficult to sustain over the long term. Consequently, the UAE hopes to establish overland connections linking its main inland energy production areas with the Fujairah Port, where crude oil can be loaded onto vessels for export to international energy markets," said Wang Jin, director of the Center for Strategic Studies at Northwest University in China.
While the strategic rationale is clear, implementation faces significant hurdles. Wang noted that infrastructure constraints could limit the effectiveness of this pivot, particularly given the UAE's ambitious production targets.
"However, this strategy involves two key challenges. First, the existing overland pipeline infrastructure cannot fully meet the UAE's so-called energy transport capacity requirements. According to current UAE projections, the country's average daily energy production may reach approximately 5 million barrels in the future. Yet the transport capacity of the existing pipelines falls far short of this anticipated volume. Therefore, the UAE must consider how to further expand the capacity of its overland energy pipeline network in the future, and whether new pipelines should be constructed to connect with the Fujairah Port," he said.
Beyond pipeline capacity, long-term success hinges on port infrastructure and sustainable financing -- questions that remain unresolved as the UAE weighs its next moves, according to Wang.
"More importantly, as the Fujairah Port -- a deep-water port -- gains increasing strategic significance, the UAE must also consider whether the port should be expanded and its capacity upgraded to accommodate more vessels for loading and unloading energy-related products. Thus, for the UAE, critical questions remain: how to develop effective planning, how to advance infrastructure construction, and where to secure funding for related projects. Consequently, although the UAE currently has proposals to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, whether and when these plans can be realized will likely require a long and complex process ahead," he said.
UAE's OPEC exit reflects strategic shift amid energy security concerns: expert
