Sheer style: Shereen Samson Vallabouy shows she is the best in the women's 400m.
PETALING JAYA: National athletics queen Shereen Samson Vallabouy blew away her opponents by winning the women's 400m in style at the Malaysian Open.
The United States-based athlete, who represented her state Perak in the meet, was dominant from start to finish as she won the gold medal with a time of 52.45s at the Darul Makmur Stadium in Kuantan on Saturday morning (June 15) and left her second-placed opponent trailing by five seconds.
Johor’s Nur Aliah Maisarah Nor took silver with a time of 57.18s, while Armed Forces’ Nurul Faizah Asma Mazlan won bronze by clocking 57.61s.
In the men’s final, national runner Umar Osman, representing Johor, took the gold with a time of 46.27s, just 0.18 seconds away from his national record of 46.09.
Sabah’s Khalil Helmi was second, clocking 47.60s, while Armed Forces’ Luqmanul Hakim Khairul Akma took bronze with a time of 47.92s.
In the men's 100 final, Mohd Azeem Fahmi sprinted to the gold but he was still left disappointed.
His time of 10.42s was a far cry from his national record of 10.09s.
Armed Forces' Jonathan Nyepa gave him a good fight to finish second with a time of 10.54s while Pahang’s Efrain Feerzan Khan took bronze with a time of 10.61s.
Azeem failed to qualify on merit for the Olympics as the mark is 10s and now, he is hoping for a wildcard to feature in his first Games.
In the women’s 100m final, national sprinter Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli of the Armed Forces clocked 11.76s to win gold.
Selangor’s Nur Afrina Batrisyia Rizal took silver with a time of 11.87s, while Terengganu Azreen Nabila Alias won bronze with a time of 12.21s.
