KUALA LUMPUR, June 2 — National women’s athlete Shereen Samson Vallabouy created a sensation when she broke the national record she set herself in 400 metres (m) at the Music City Track Carnival Championships in Tennessee, USA, yesterday.

In the final that took place at Dean A. Hayes Stadium, Murfreesboro, Shereen finished the race in second place with a time of 51.79 seconds (s) according to the tournament website.

With the timing, the Perak-born athlete successfully erase the record of 51.80s she set herself at the 63rd Mt SAC Relays Annual Athletics Championship, California, United States in April last year.

Earlier Jamaican athlete Leah Anderson clinched the gold when she was the fastest across the finish line with a record of 51.67s while the bronze went to home athlete Na’asha Roinson with a run of 51.82s.

Although the 26-year-old athlete broke her record yesterday, she still needs to run at least 50.95s if she wants to qualify for the Paris Olympics opening in July.

The Malaysia Athletics Federation (MAF) selection committee must submit the name of either Shereen or Muhammad Azeem Mohd Fahmi to the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) before July 8 if the two athletes are unable to qualify on merit.

Muhammad Azeem, who is the national 100m record holder with a record of 10.09s, set his best record of the season at 10.24s while competing at the LSU Invitational Athletics Championships in Los Angeles on April 27.

However, that record is still a long way off when compared to qualifying for Paris which requires him to record 10s to qualify on merit for the event. — Bernama