Hannah Yeoh to meet Shereen on her needs, next Tuesday

 

Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh will hold a meeting with Shereen Samson Vallabouy on Tuesday next week 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 wants to provide support to athletes like Shereen.

"However, the form of assistance that will be given is still being discussed at the ministry level first. The meeting next week (Tuesday) will be held at the ministry and after that, we will update the media," Yeoh told reporters after launching the Kuala Lumpur Standard Charted Marathon (KLSCM) 2023 in Kuala Lumpur today.

Yesterday, a news portal reported that the mother of the national 400-metre runner, Josephine Mary, said Shereen is facing problems financing 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 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 Sept 30 and Oct 1, Hannah said it is a good effort in attracting Malaysians to participate in healthy activities. with various categories 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