Su Bingtian celebrates after winning his race in the men's 100 meters semifinals at the Tokyo Olympics on August 1. Photo: IC

Chinese netizens supported and hailed news that China's tech company Xiaomi Corporation announced Chinese sprinter Su Bingtian, who set an Asian record in the 100m sprint at the Tokyo Olympics, will become the company's brand ambassador on Tuesday. 

The company's official WeChat account stated that Su is the most fabulous Chinese sprinter who clocked an Asian record-setting 9.83-second finish in the men's 100 meters at the Tokyo Olympics. He is the fastest Chinese as well as the fastest Asian. 

Being one of the most outstanding Chinese athletes, the 32-year-old Su became the first Chinese to qualify for the 100-meter final of the Olympics. Although he did not win an individual medal, he finished sixth in the final with 9.96 seconds, the best for an Asian at the Olympics. 

Su claimed in a video clip posted on his Weibo account on Tuesday that he likes Xiaomi and feels proud to be its ambassador. He cheered for the company and Lei Jun, Xiaomi's founder and CEO, saying "add oil."

Lei, who will give his annual speech on Tuesday evening, called Su China's flying man and said "China's pride" on his Weibo account. He claimed Su's hard work, unyielding attitude and the spirit of pursuing the ultimate, deeply touched him. 

It is noteworthy that Su has another identity as an associate professor from Jinan University in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province. 

He and his team wrote a paper analyzing the reasons why Chinese sprinters are capable of becoming the best among the world's top 100-meter runners. Su has made various optimizations after his researches, and constantly broke his own records. 

Many internet users thought highly of the cooperation between Su and Xiaomi. "Great choice. The company indeed should invite athletes who have won honors for our country and who are the superstars we should idolize," a netizen on Weibo commented. 

"Good, I will upgrade my mobile phone to Xiaomi's product during this Double 11 shopping spree. I had planned to change to another brand, but now I don't waver over the issue and will support Xiaomi," another said. 

Some netizens expressed that excellent athletes and their team deserve good financial return for their endeavors and asked "I wonder how much Xiaomi will pay Su for being the ambassador." 

Chinese electronics manufacturer Xiaomi has overtaken Apple as the world's second biggest smartphone maker in the second quarter this year following an 83 percent jump in shipments, according to Canalys, marking the first occasion that Xiaomi, the Chinese maker of everything from rice cookers to electric vehicles, has broken into the top two, following Samsung.

Global Times