The Malaysia Athletics Federation (MAF) selection panel denied 400m queen Shereen Samson Vallabouy the slot on the basis the wildcard is only for the 100m, and that she is not a natural 100m sprinter.
Azeem, Malaysia’s fastest man, has been struggling to go under 10.3 seconds in the 100m in recent months.
Yesterday, he clocked 10.37 to finish behind Indonesia’s former world junior champion Lalu Muhammad Zohri (10.19) in the 100m final at the Asean University Games in Surabaya.
He holds the national record of 10.09 set two years ago and recorded a time of 10.11 to take bronze in the 100m at the Hangzhou Asian Games last September.
MAF president Shahidan Kassim is expected to announce that Azeem’s name has been submitted to the Olympic Council of Malaysia for endorsement at a press conference this afternoon.
Malaysia received the wildcard after both the athletes failed to make the cut for the Olympics in their respective events at the end of qualification and ranking period.
In terms of universality places, any nation that has no male or female qualified athlete will be allowed to enter their best ranked male or best ranked female athlete in either the 100m, 800m or marathon.
Hotly contested
MAF officials said it was a close call for the universality place between the two US-based runners, with Shereen seen as potential record breaker of the national women’s 100m record.
National selectors had over the past week pored over the athletes’ technical data, medical reports and their performances in competitions to make their choice.
An official said: “It was a tough and emotional decision to make as there was little to separate their attitude, commitment, motivation and trust in training.
“It finally came down to the wildcard being offered only for the 100m, it being Azeem’s event and Shereen being a natural 400m runner.
Asked whether the announcement was deferred until Azeem competed in the 100m at Surabaya, the official said: “We were hoping he would strengthen his case by going under 10.3, but he fell short.
“But he’s a highly motivated athlete and we are confident he will perform well at the Olympics.”
Just before Shereen left for Surabaya, there was a move for her to run the 100m at the university games but it did not materialise.
“Not only would it have been too late to enter her for the event, but to drop one of the two runners originally picked for it would have been unfair,” said the official.
Shereen’s coach, Derrick White had said he was hopeful she would break G Shanti’s 100m national record of 11.5 at the Olympics because she had already recorded 11.61 in Florida.
White, a renowned Florida-based speed coach, believed Shereen could run 11.25-11.38 or better.
He had also noted that Shereen, running the anchor leg in the 4x100m at the Hangzhou Asian Games, received the baton with Malaysia in seventh position to dramatically grab the bronze medal.
Shereen has an unmatched feat of three national records, 200m (23.33), 400 outdoor (51.79) and 400m indoor (52.27).
In the Road to Paris women’s 400m rankings, she is rated 62nd and sits 84th among the world’s best. Azeem is 69th in the Road to Paris men’s 100m rankings, and rated 100th in the world.
Last year, Shereen and Azeem failed to qualify for the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, but Azeem was chosen to compete on a wildcard.
Shereen, who turns 26 on July 10, made her World Championships debut, also on a wildcard, in Oregon, US, in 2022 while studying at Minnesota’s Winona State University.
Wildcard poser
The MAF council had previously ruled that an athlete is eligible only once for the Olympics wildcard. They wanted to avoid an unfair situation where the same athlete kept competing in the Olympics on a universality place.
If this rule is upheld, Azeem, 20, will not be recommended again for a wildcard. That means Azeem, who is studying exercise physiology and kinesiology at the Auburn University in Alabama, US, has to qualify on merit for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
With Azeem set to be an Olympian, Perak has suffered a setback ahead of the athletics competition at the Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Kuching from August 17 to 24.
A national athlete who has participated in the Olympics is barred from Sukma. The athletics competition in Paris will take place between August 2 and 11.
Even as the MAF was debating its choice for the Olympics, the Perak National Sports Council had entered the runner from Teluk Intan to represent the state in the 100m and 200m.