KUALA LUMPUR: Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh will hold a meeting with Shereen Samson Vallabouy next Tuesday to discuss the needs and welfare of the national athlete.
Hannah said Shereen, 25, who was born in Ipoh, Perak and is currently a student-athlete at Winona State University in Minnesota, United States has shown excellent improved performance.
In this regard, she said the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) wants to provide support to athletes like Shereen.
“However, the form of assistance that will be given is still being discussed at KBS level first. The meeting next week (Tuesday) will be held at KBS and after that we will update the media,” she told reporters after launching the Kuala Lumpur Standard Charted Marathon (KLSCM) 2023 here today.
Yesterday, a news portal reported that the mother of the national 400 meter (m) runner, Josephine Mary said Shereen is facing problems to finance her training and stay in Florida after the sponsorship from the Better Malaysia Foundation (BMF) is expected to be only enough until December, for her effort to grab a slot to the 2024 Olympic Games.
Shereen will be moving to Florida in June after her last semester at Winona State University for an internship and further training under coach Derrick White.
On April 16, Shereen broke the national 400m record held by the late Rabia Abdul Salam in 51.80 seconds (s) at the 63rd Annual Mt SAC Relays Athletics Championship, California, USA.
Shereen has previously broken the 400m indoor national record four times, with the last one when she won the gold medal at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships in Virginia Beach, Virginia last May.
She is also one of the country’s representatives who will take on the challenge in the Cambodia SEA Games in May in the 400m and 4x400m events.
Touching on the 15th edition of KLSCM scheduled to take place at Dataran Merdeka, on 30 Sept and 1 Oct, Hannah said it is a good effort in attracting Malaysians to participate in healthy activities with various categories were contested.
Meanwhile, KLSCM project director Rainer Biemans said a total of 40,000 participants are estimated to join this season.
“We are delighted to receive the Road Race label from World Athletics, which is a stamp of approval that would give runners added confidence that they are registering for an internationally recognised event,” Rainer said. – BERNAMA
