PETALING JAYA: US-based Shereen Vallabouy’s recent national record-breaking run in the women’s 200m has become another priceless father-mother-daughter moment.
The Vallabouys, from Ipoh, have the distinction of owning seven national athletics records, and one regional mark.
Besides the 200m (23.33), Shereen holds the Malaysia 400m outdoor (51.83) and indoor (52.27) records.
Her mother Josephine Mary’s 800m (2:07.44) and junior 400 (53.85) marks have been intact for 37 and 38 years respectively.
Shereen’s father Samson set a record so supreme in the 800m at the 1989 SEA Games that it has remained unbroken for 34 years.
Samson was also a member of the 4x400m men’s relay team, together with Azhar Hashim, Yazid Parlan and Nordin Jadi, whose timing of 3:06.64 achieved in 1991 remains the national record.
Likewise, the 3:35.83 clocked two years later by the women’s 4x400m quartet of Josephine, R Shanti, G Shanti and Rabia Abdul Salam also remains unmatched.
Former Malaysian sprinter G Shanti said the remarkable story of the family served as an inspiration to budding athletes to dream big.
She said their tradition of relentless pursuit of excellence spoke volumes of a family in love with sport, unwavering determination and countless hours of hard work.
“Shereen looks set to go faster and faster,” said Shanti, whose long-standing 200m national mark of 23.37s was eclipsed at the Ed Murphey Classic at Memphis.
Shereen, who trains under speed coach Derrick White in Florida, clocked 23.33s to finish fourth, an hour after she took bronze in the 400m in 51.99s.
White said he was pleased with her efforts in eight weeks of training, and that she was on the right path for the Asian Games in China next month.
“In the 200m, her splits were 11.7/11.6s which shows strength,” said White, who is pushing her to run below 11.4s in 100m, under 23.0s in 200m, and sub-51 in the 400m.
Shereen, 25, had recently registered a personal best of 11.61s in 100m, which makes her one of the fastest over the distance in the country.
She said she was happy with her “consistent progress” which was made possible by White’s structured training and the sports culture in the US.
“Coach White has been a huge motivation in guiding me through pro training and it’s an exciting journey growing from it,” she said.
The first week of this month also belonged to quarter-miler Umar Osman who broke his own national 400m record twice in 24 hours at the World University Games in Chengdu, China.
The student of Politeknik Ibrahim Sultan first clocked 46.33s to better his national record of 46.34s set at the Phnom Penh Sea Games in May.
In the semi-finals, he posted 46.09s, but could only manage 46.41 to finish seventh in the final.
Umar’s impressive feats came even as his coach Simon Lau left to work in Singapore. He trains in Johor and follows a programme given by Simon. Umar turns 20 on Aug 11. - FMT
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