It took another Maldivian runner 21 years to surpass Shamha's 100-metre national record set at the 2001 World Championship in Edmonton, Canada.
Himna Hassan, currently the fastest female sprint runner in the Maldives, set the new record in the Commonwealth games held last year. Shamha was in Malé training with Coach Nasurallah Ahmed when she got the news of her record being topped.
She wondered why it took so long to set a new record and came to the conclusion that it was due to the athletes' inadequate training. In her opinion, if the right training and resources were provided, the Maldivian athletic team could be far better. While her mind was going over thoughts as such, her coach took her pensive look to mean that she was worried about her record. But it was anything but that for Shamha.
A month after her long standing record was broken, Shamha set off four new records which included the half marathon national record at Oslo Marathon, 20 kilometres, 15 kilometres and 10 kilometres records.
Shamha took a break from training after the birth of her third child and resumed in 2021. However she experienced lower back pains and was advised by doctors to recuperate for six months. She went on to choose Nasru as her trainer which proved to be the ideal choice as his training was motivating and intense at the same time.
Following the Oslo Marathon, Shamha participated in the Berlin Marathon and broke the previously held marathon record by Mariyam Abdul Kareem with a time of 3 hours, 2 minutes and 41 seconds. Her target was to complete the marathon below 3 hours, but 32 kilometres into the marathon she experienced numbness in her legs. But she persevered, and seeing her daughter rooting for her with a sign that read "Mamma"; which means mother in native Dhivehi, was all the more encouraging. Had she focused on one specific marathon, Shamha was certain that she could have finished in her projected time and the runner has high hopes for IOG this year in Madagascar.
Shamha attributes her achievement to living a disciplined lifestyle which she learnt through sports. It takes a lot of time and courage to manage her life as a teacher of digital education at a German school, taking care of her children, and training assiduously, but she has gotten used to it by maintaining a balanced schedule.
Her Indian coach had predicted that the record she will set in the World Championship in Canada would stand for a significant amount of time. Shamha is setting new goals and exceeding them despite the fact that she no longer owns that record, making her name stand out among the country's top athletes.
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