KUANTAN – Malaysia’s 400m sprinter Shereen Samson Vallabouy faces an uphill battle to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
She not only has to win at the Malaysia Open this weekend but also the Kazakhstan Open next week.
Shereen, who recently broke the national record for this event at the Music City Track Carnival in Tennessee by clocking 51.79sec, successfully reached the final of the Malaysia Open as expected.
However, her performance in today’s semi-final was not very encouraging as she only managed a time of 55.44sec.
Although there are two ways to qualify for Paris – standard time or world ranking – she has no preference as both have their own challenges.
To make it to Paris, Shereen needs to clock 50.95sec to qualify through the standard time.
On the other hand, for world ranking qualification, Shereen, currently ranked 66th globally, needs to be at least 48th to qualify.
Therefore, the results of the Malaysia Open and the Kazakhstan Open next week will play a significant role for Shereen in her quest to compete in Paris.
“I won’t say I have any preferences, but to me, qualifying on merit will mean much more while qualifying by world ranking will also mean something for the country.
“To get to the Olympics, I need to break the national record in two meets and win it.
“Of course, that is my goal, but I can’t tell until I run tomorrow.
“It really depends on how my body feels,” said Shereen.
The 25-year-old sprinter is also aware that the focus on qualifying for the Olympics is now on the sensational sprinter, Muhammad Azeem Fahmi.
Like Shereen, Azeem is also in the hunt to qualify for the Olympics in the 100m event.
However, unlike Shereen, Azeem has a safety net as the Malaysia Athletics Federation through its technical director Robert Ballard, who hinted that a wild card slot will be his if no athlete qualifies on merit.
Additionally, World Athletics has allocated wild card slots for only three events: 100m, 800m, and marathon. – June 14, 2024