"I've done all that I could do (since returning to training at the end of 2024), and there is no way that I can improve dramatically fast enough in the next couple of months in my current condition.

"For me, I think it's no longer a realistic goal (to reach the entry mark).

"I feel like this might be the last individual 100m race of my career," Su said calmly in a televised post-race interview, catching fans off guard with his blunt confession, ending an illustrious career.

Su withdrew from the semifinals on Saturday as he had hinted, only lacing up for Guangdong in Sunday's 4x100m relay and helping his provincial team finish first as the lead-off leg in the final.

A strong starter, known in his prime for his scintillating pace and consistent strides, Su admitted that he even fell out of rhythm competing among his younger peers at the domestic meet, after not having any systematic training in almost two years since his last major event — the 2022 world championships in Eugene, Oregon.

"Most of the athletes around me were born in the late 1990s or 2000s. There are very few of us born in the 1980s left on the track," said Su, who made it into the 100m final at the Tokyo Olympics — becoming the first Asian man to do so — with a continental record of 9.83s in the semis on Aug 1, 2021.

"I feel that I have pushed myself to the limit, and I have no regrets in my career whatsoever."