KUALA LUMPUR: The success of Umar Osman and Shereen Samson Vallabouy who dominated the men’s and women’s 400 metres events at the SEA Games in Cambodia last Tuesday (May 9) should be reciprocated with better support and assistance, said former national sprinter Nazmizan Mohamad.
Nazmizan who won the 100m and 200m gold in the 2003 SEA Games in Vietnam said their achievements had brought honours to the country in the two events after 26 years.
The last time Malaysia grabbed the gold in the men’s and women’s 400m was in the 1997 edition in Jakarta, Indonesia through Romzi Bakar and N. Manimagalay.
Nazmizan said Umar, 20, had put up a powerful run to emerge as champion and cracked the national record of almost 22 years held by Mohd Zaiful Zainal Abidin, in 46.34 seconds (s) while Shereen, 24, in 52.53s is the product of her coach in the United States since 2019.
“For me, this is a good achievement because if we look at history, Malaysia has often won this event when Shereen’s mother, S. Josephine Mary herself once won gold with Nordin Mohamed Jadi in the 1987 edition in Jakarta.
“I hope these two athletes are given help and support in terms of preparation for the next tournament such as training abroad for Umar, while since Shereen is already abroad, maybe financial help is suitable for her,” he said when contacted by Bernama.
Nazmizan also thinks that the two athletes who are still young, are capable of bringing success to the country not only at the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand and 2027 in Malaysia, but also have the potential to shine on the Asian and Commonwealth Games stage if their talents are properly polished.
He hoped that the Malaysian Athletics Federation (KOM) and the National Sports Council (MSN) would be able to make appropriate plans to develop the talents of the two middle-distance runners.
At the same time, he also hopes that KOM will focus on other 400m runners to create a solid 4x400m quartet to compete for gold medals in the 2025 and 2027 editions.
“We already have Umar and Shereen who are able to shine, if we are able to produce a few more runners who are able to run around 47s for men and 53s for women, we will be able to create a strong relay team.
“If we are able to win gold in the men’s and women’s 400m events, as well as the men’s, women’s and mixed 4x400m events, there alone we can get five golds, thus reaching the target of winning 10 or 12 golds at the SEA Games. Malaysia has many talented athletes, but needs continuous planning and development from KOM and MSN,” he said. – BERNAMA
