NAGOYA, Sept 26 — National women’s sprinter Shereen Samson Vallabouy remains without a permanent physical coach, describing the situation as one of the biggest challenges in preparing for the season.

The 28-year-old said the absence of a physical coach had made her training particularly tough this year after returning from the United States last year.

She was forced to train alone for a period before resuming her programme through a combination of coaches and online sessions.

“To be honest, this year has been very ‘messy’ for me. After returning from the United States last year, I looked for a new coach in Malaysia. It was quite difficult to find one who meets my standards. I trained on my own for a while, and then went back to following an online training programme with a US coach.

“It’s tough not having a physical coach, but I’m very grateful to my online coach, who has always given me support and encouragement,” she said after the women’s 400m heats at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games yesterday.

Shereen has yet to decide on her direction after the Asian Games, including whether to continue working with the national athletics squad’s new coach, Thabo Matebedi.

Matebedi, who recently arrived from South Africa, had only about a month to work with her before the Games, leaving little room for major changes to her training programme.

“After the Asian Games, I need to see how to move forward. I want to sit down with Coach T (Matebedi) and discuss his 400m training.

“I’ve been in this sport a long time, and at 28, I need to make sure I’m heading in the right direction. So I must have an open discussion with him first, to see how his training system works,” she said.

In yesterday’s race, Shereen missed the final after finishing fourth in her heat in 54.03 seconds.

She admitted that failing to defend her bronze from the previous edition stung, but took satisfaction in giving everything on the track.

Shereen also confirmed that the Asian Games will be her final championship of the season before she returns to action next season. — Bernama