KUALA LUMPUR - National athlete Shereen Samson Vallabouy, who excelled at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships in Kansas, USA, on Saturday, is now a rising star on the athletics scene.
National athletics squad head coach Mohd Manshahar Abdul Jalil described the achievement by Shereen, who broke Noraseela Mohd Khalid's 16-year-old (indoor) national record of 54.58 seconds (s) in Germany by clocking 53.79s to win the 400m event at the meet, as a sensational and proud feat.
If she is able to maintain her performance in the future, Mohd Manshahar believes the 24-year-old who has been pursuing studies in the field of recreation and tourism at Winona State University since 2019, can break the outdoor 400m national record of 52.56s set by the late Rabia Abdul Salam in 1993 in the Philippines.
"That is a strong possibility (breaking the 400m national record) because indoor and outdoor competitions are not the same, usually the time will be faster for outdoor events because runners only have to run one lap and make two turns.
"If the indoor (competition) has a distance of 200m for one lap, the runners need to control their body tilt because they have to run two laps and make four turns... however it all depends on effort other than enough training for Shereen to break Rabia's record," he said when contacted by Bernama today.
In addition to winning the final at the NCAA Division II meet, the youngest child of former national athletics stars, Samson Vallabouy and Josephine Mary Singarayar, also dominated the qualifying stage by emerging as the fastest runner with a time of 53.88s.
Mohd Manshahar, who always monitors Shereen's progress, said the 2015 SEA Games 400m bronze winner in Singapore was fortunate to be under tutelage in the United States and is surrounded by great athletes and able to participate in competitive competitions thus being able to be on the right trajectory.
He added that Shereen has the potential to compete in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England from July 28 to August 8 and the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China from Sept 10-25 if she can perform impressive runs apart from meeting the qualifying times set.
"Shereen needs to pass the qualifying mark for the Commonwealth Games which is under 52 seconds while for the Asian Games under 53s," he said.
However, he explained that Shereen could not feature for Malaysia at the 31st SEA Games in Hanoi, from May 12-23 because she has an examination at her university during the biennial games.
Meanwhile, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu congratulated Shereen for breaking the national record in her appearance in the NCAA Division II championships.
"Congratulations also to her family, especially her parents Josephine Mary and Samson Vallabouy who are former athletes for their strong support to shereen. May Shereen’s success be an inspiration to all athletes. Syabas #MalaysiaBoleh #DemiMalaysia,” he said on Twitter today. - BERNAMA