SURABAYA: National sprint king Muhammad Azeem Mohd Fahmi hopes sprint queen Shereen Samson Vallabouy will not be demoralised for not being selected to fill the wild card slot to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

The 20-year-old acknowledged Shereen as a great athlete with opportunities to compete in future Olympic Games, while wishing she continues to shine and uphold the country’s name.

“She always does well, she broke the national (400m) record. For her, I hope this thing (wild card ticket) IS not going to let her down, because I also believe Shereen will do better in the future. She is going to be one of the best runners in Malaysia in the 400 metres.

“Everyone knows that her parents were national former athletes. Even I am looking forward to being like how her family is, the whole family are Olympians. So, I believe in the next edition, she will be in the Olympics as well,“ he told reporters here .

Last Wednesday, Malaysian Athletics Federation (KOM) president Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim announced that the wild card ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympics was awarded to Muhammad Azeem, thus causing Shereen, who was also in contention for the slot, to miss out.