SURABAYA – Sprinter Muhammad Azeem Fahmi has been left “speechless” after being picked to fill the wild card slot at the Paris Olympics.
The 100m star said he still could not believe that the Malaysia Athletics Federation (MAF) had picked him over women’s 400m runner Shereen Samson Vallabouy to compete in the Olympics, which starts on July 26.
The 20-year-old said he would seize the opportunity to give it his best and use it as a platform to improve his performance.
“With this positive news… it is an opportunity for me to grow and improve on my performance. The Olympics is the biggest stage, I will try my best to, at least, set my season’s best or a new national record.
“I believe in myself and this news is the highest form of motivation for me to do the best,” he said when met by reporters after the men’s 4x100m final at the Asean University Games held at the Surabaya State University Athletics Field here today.
MAF president Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim announced earlier today that the Paris wild card had been given to the sprint ace.
Shereen, meanwhile, took the decision magnanimously, saying she accepted the MAF’s decision to give the wild card spot to Azeem.
“I’ll continue working hard. I’ll come back stronger next year and whoever gets it deserves it. So I’m not upset about it.
“I plan to run in a few more competitions before I end the season,” she said.
In the women’s 400m at the Asean University Games today, Shereen clinched gold in 53.71sec, leaving Thailand’s Benny Nontanam (55.09sec) and home runner Maulidah (56.51sec) to settle for silver and bronze.
Azeem also bagged gold in the men’s 4x100m relay as he and Aliff Iman Mohd Fahimi, Mohd Raimi Mustafa Kamal and Mohammad Thaqif Mohammad Hisham clocked 40.10sec. – July 3, 2024