KUALA LUMPUR – National sprinter Shereen Vallabouy has set her eyes on achieving the 50.95s mark by June 30 in order to make the cut for Paris 2024.
The 25-year-old athlete, born in Perak and holding a personal best of 51.80s, needs to be ranked in the world’s top 48 by the end of June to qualify for the world’s biggest multi-sports event.
Speaking to Scoop, Shereen believes that with the help of her American coach, Derrick White, she will be able to fulfil her lifelong ambition.
“It’s the Olympic season now, and there is only one thing running in my mind: to qualify for the Olympics on merit. Coach Derrick has been really helpful with my development.
“He has been teaching me several new techniques to improve myself. Currently, my personal best is 51.80s, and I just need to work harder and cut down another second to qualify.
“It’s possible for me to qualify for the Olympics as it’s my biggest dream, but I also need to work on my endurance and postures, and with the help of my coach, I believe I can achieve it,” said Shereen at the 2024 Malaysian Athletics Awards in Kuala Lumpur last night.
Last night’s awards saw Shereen receiving an incentive of RM1,500 from the Malaysia Athletics Federation for ending Malaysia’s 17-year medal drought in the women’s 400m with a bronze in the Asian Games.
Shereen finished the race with a time of 52.58s.
At the same time, Shereen also said she had yet to decide on the tournaments in which she would be participating for the rest of the year.
“I’m currently in my off-season now, so my focus for now is to train as much as I can, and my coach will do the planning for me on which tournaments I should focus on.
“For now, I will focus on competing in a few indoor races in the United States. I will know more about my future tournaments when things progress further,” Shereen added.
Shereen is currently ranked 92nd in the world and fourth in Asia. In Asia, she is ranked behind Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser and Kemi Adekoya and Sri Lanka’s Nadeesha Ramanayake. – January 15, 2024