Shereen breaks legend Shanti’s 25-year-old national 200-meter record

KUALA LUMPUR: National athlete Shereen Samson Vallabouy continued to steal the show after breaking the national record in the women’s 200 metres (m) sprint at the 7th Annual Ed Murphey Classic 2023 in Tennessee, United States, early this morning.
 
In the final that took place at Rhodes College in Memphis, Shereen finished in fourth place with a time of 23.33 seconds (s), according to the meet’s website, https://live.timinginc.com/.
 
The time posted by the Perak-born athlete erased the 25-year-old record of 23.37s set by national sports legend G. Shanti at the 1998 Asian Championships in Japan.
 
Jamaican athlete Nataliah Whyte took gold when she was the fastest to cross the finish line with a time of 22.76s, followed by USA runner Talitha Diggs, who took silver (22.83s), while bronze went to Nigeria’s Favor Ofili after recording 22.94s.
 
Earlier, at the same meet, Shereen took home bronze in her pet event, the 400m, after finishing third in the final with a time of 51.99s.
 
American athlete Jenna Prandini, representing the Puma team, won gold with a time of 51.86s, while Great Britain’s Amber Anning took silver after clocking 51.87s.
 
Shereen previously created a sensation after breaking the 30-year-old women’s 400m national record with a time of 51.80s at the 63rd Annual Mt SAC Relays Athletics Championship in California, last April.
 
The 400m national record previously belonged to the late Rabia Abdul Salam, who clocked 52.56s in a meet in the Philippines in 1993.
 
In May, Shereen clinched the women’s 400m gold at the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia with a time of 52.53s. – BERNAMA