The federation’s director of coaching, Robert Ballard, said its selection committee needs to submit one name to the Olympic Council of Malaysia before July 8, as only one slot is available if both athletes do not qualify on merit.

“But we are still hoping that both athletes can qualify on merit, and if they qualify on merit, there’s no decision to make,” he told reporters at the National Sports Council’s mini stadium at Bukit Jalil here today.

Ballard acknowledged that Shereen faces a tough challenge as she needs to break her 400m record in upcoming competitions, starting with the Nashville meet in the US next week.

“From Nashville next weekend, she will then fly to Malaysia for the Malaysian Open.

“We have requested for entry to Kazakhstan on June 22 for the bronze-level meet for both Shereen and Azeem to attempt to qualify for the Olympics on merit,” he said.