KUALA LUMPUR − National athlete Shereen Samson Vallabouy’s achievements at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships in Kansas, US, recently are the result of her past painful experience.
The youngest child of former national athletic stars Samson Vallabouy and Josephine Mary Singarayar said although she was diagnosed with mild upper back scoliosis (backbone condition) in 2019, she believed that the diagnosis would not stop her from pursuing her dreams as an athlete.
“Having the mindset to achieve the gold and to keep trusting the process is one of the key aspects − hard work doesn’t come easily and it is a process to get to the top.
“Over the years taking care of my body to be the healthiest it could possibly be, staying consistent and trusting the process has helped me win the gold,” she said during a live broadcast on Bernama TV yesterday.
On March 12, Shereen won gold in the women’s indoor 400m at the NCAA Division II Championships held at Pittsburgh State University with a time of 53.79s − breaking the 12-year-old record of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
Shereen’s time not only bettered her personal best of 54.94s but also broke the 16-year-old national indoor record of 54.58s set by Noraseela Mohd Khalid.
Shereen said back in the day when she started her journey in athletics at 13 years of age, she had to go through a lot of severe back pain episodes.
In fact, all the problems and challenges faced by the 23-year-old rising star had forced her to pull out from certain games that she was competing in.
Furthermore, she said her parents played a big role in discovering her talents while helping her with her recovery.
“I remembered when I was 13 years old, I asked my mum if I needed a coach and suddenly she laughed at me and said that she could be my coach, for sure.
“In fact, my mum trained me until I was 15 years old before I joined Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) and honed my talents under coach K. Jayabalan,” she added. – Bernama, March 22, 2022
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