China's ace sprinter Su Bingtian will make his 2022 athletics season debut in the men's 100 meters at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon on Friday.

Having been held back by injuries for months, Su told Xinhua News Agency that he is not in his best form and all he wants is to be able to compete in the race.

"I just hope I can be there and participate in the race," he said.

Su revealed that he had been focusing on preparing for the Asian Games that was scheduled to take place in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province between September 10 and 25. He hadn't planned to participate in the World Championships but changed his mind after the Asian Games was postponed.

The change of plans made it more difficult for Su to travel overseas and he has therefore not appeared on the international circuit this year. He departed Jacksonville for Eugene on Tuesday and began training on Wednesday. He told Xinhua that he has been recovering from a knee complaint and still doesn't feel comfortable.

Su is hoping to draw on some exciting memories of Eugene. He finished a 100m race there in 9.99 seconds in 2015, breaking 10 seconds for the first time in his career. He continued to refine his performance in the following years until recording 9.93 seconds at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Su, Xie Zhenye, Tang Xingqiang and Wu Zhiqiang made history for Team China by pocketing the men's 4x100m relay bronze medal in Tokyo. The 32-year-old veteran considers the World Championships an opportunity for the younger generation to take over from the older sprinters. "I hope we can carry on what we did in Tokyo," he said.

Su's compatriot Gong Lijiao will participate in Eugene in the women's shot put on her eighth appearance in the championships. She has won the gold medal twice and aims to break 21 meters.

Like Su, Gong also looks forward to seeing growth among her younger teammates. Song Jiayuan has already thrown longer than 20 meters twice this season. Gong said she had felt an easing of the pressure on her shoulders watching Song progress.