BEIJING, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese men's relay team worked miracle on Saturday evening when they captured a historic 4x100m relay silver medal.
The team became the very superstars of the Bird's Nest Stadium, stealing much of the thunder of Jamaica which defended the title in 37.36 seconds with Usain Bolt running the last leg.
When the Chinese sprinters celebrated their uNPRecedented bronze medal after a 38.01-second finish, they found themselves promoted to second place as the United States was disqualified for exchanging the baton out of zone. Canada was lifted to third in 38.13.
Led by two of the fastest men in Asia - Su Bingtian and Zhang Peimeng, the Chinese quartet started on the ninth lane. Mo Youxue and Xie Zhenye kept pace with the other teams while birthday boy Su improved their position to fourth in the third leg. Zhang edged past Canada's J. Warner in the final meters.
As they did a lap of honor, Su, turning 26 Saturday, was greeted with a happy birthday chorus by the capacity National Stadium.
"This is the moment of life. Can you imagine that 80,000 people sang birthday song to me?" said Su, the first Chinese to reach the world men's 100m final and clock 9.99 seconds.
"I had never thought of winning a silver medal. I told my teammates that we should be just as relaxed in the final as in training because we already made history by reaching the final."
"We have been training very hard to make four people as one. We practiced baton exchange every day since this May," he added.
Zhang, previous national record holder, anchored China's charge to the podium.
"I went all out. We made history," he said.
"I was under huge pressure when I took the baton from Su Bingtian. I felt like we were closer to a medal and I surely did not want to be the one who squandered our opportunity."
The good sign already emerged in the morning heats where China finished fourth overall in 37.92 seconds, shaving 0.07 off their previous Asian best set in last year's Asian Games. Last time a Chinese team appeared in the final was in 1987 in Rome where they finished eighth in 39.93.
China's silver finish was watched by former Olympic and world 110m hurdles champion Liu Xiang.
"I am so happy for them. They created history," said China's most famous athlete who retired early this year. "I know they have been working extremely hard and they brought out every bit of their potential. They deserved what they won."