Shereen gets RM228,098 financial aid, aiming for Commonwealth, World C’ships

KUALA LUMPUR – National athlete Shereen Samson Vallabouy hopes that she can qualify for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022 and Oregon World Athletics Championships 2022, which will both be held in July. 

Shereen, who is the youngest child of former national athletics stars Samson Vallabouy and Josephine Mary Singarayar, said she’s currently training with her coach and teammates to make sure she’s in prime condition.

“For now, my goal is to keep training and I’d like to make it to the Commonwealth Games and the World Championships… hopefully, I get to qualify for one of them.

“Actually, I qualified for the Hangzhou Asian Games 2022 in China in September but, unfortunately, the Asiad has been postponed to 2023 due to the rising number of Covid-19 cases,” she told a virtual press conference at the Better Malaysia Foundation (BMF) event held at Berjaya Times Square here today. 

BMF today announced a contribution of US$52,000 (RM228,098) to support Shereen with her living expenses throughout her studies at the Winona State University in Minnesota, the United States of America.  

Shereen, who will receive US$2,600 (RM11,404) per month from this month until December 2023, is currently on an athletics scholarship at the university, where she is pursuing a degree in the field of recreation and tourism.

Meanwhile, BMF founder and chairman Tan Sri Vincent Tan said he was very impressed with Shereen’s achievements and admired her zeal to be the first Malaysian female athlete to qualify for the 400m in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. 

“With such passion in her (Shereen), it is disheartening that she (Shereen) and her parents had to go through so much struggle to finance her living expenses while pursuing her studies in the US.

“I hope that this contribution will alleviate her financial worries so that she will be able to focus on her training and upcoming competitions,” he said. 

On March 12, Shereen won gold in the women’s 400m indoor race at the NCAA Division II championships held at the Pittsburgh State University in 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 held by Noraseela Mohd Khalid. – Bernama, May 13, 2022