Shereen Samson Vallabouy, a National women’s athlete, made headlines by breaking her national record in the 400 meters (m) at the Music City Track Carnival Championships in Tennessee, USA on Saturday.
According to the competition website, Shereen finished second in the final at Murfreesboro’s Dean A. Hayes Stadium in 51.79 seconds (s).
With the timing, the Perak-born athlete broke her own record of 51.80 seconds set at the 63rd Mt SAC Relays Annual Athletics Championship in California, United States, in April of last year.
Earlier, Jamaican athlete Leah Anderson won gold after crossing the finish line first in 51.67 seconds, while local athlete Na’asha Roinson took bronze in 51.82 seconds.
To qualify for the Olympics, Shereen, who is now rated world No. 91 in the women’s 400m, must be in the top 48 by the end of this month. To accomplish this, she must run at least 50.95.
Shereen has two more contests to gain her Olympic ticket: the Malaysian Open in Kuantan (June 14-16) and the Kazakhstan Open in Almaty (June 23-24).
If Shereen or Muhammad Azeem Mohd Fahmi fail to qualify on merit, the Malaysia Athletics Federation (MAF) selection committee must submit their names to the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) by July 8.
Muhammad Azeem, the national 100m record holder with a time of 10.09 seconds, set his season best of 10.24 seconds on April 27 at the LSU Invitational Athletics Championships in Los Angeles.
Source / Image : malaymail
