Shamha deserves Maldives' athletics spot in Olympics: Coach

If the latest results and records are considered when allocating the tripartite athletics spot in the upcoming Summer Olympics offer to the Maldives, the opportunity should be given to the best female runner in the country Shamha Ahmed, said her coach Nasrulla Ahmed (Nasru) today.

Nasrulla said that if an athletics spot is offered to the Maldives without a qualifying match, the Athletics Association of Maldives and the local Olympics Committee should consider the latest results and records.

"If we look at that [records and results], there is no athlete who can compete with Shamha. Shamha has the best records and performance as of recent," he said.

"I don't know what the Athletics Association will do. But as someone in sports, I believe that if a spot is available without the need to qualify [for the Olympics], it should go to the athlete with the best performance, result and timing," he went on to say.

He highlighted Shamha currently holds the most number of records and best timings, and, based on the figures, he sees no reason why Shamha should not get the opportunity.

The marathon and long distance running coach said that the biggest advancements in athletics in the past four years were brought by long distance runners and as such, the long distance category deserves a shot at the Olympics this year.

"Which ever way [you] look at this, I don't see a way how Shamha should be disqualified in favour of someone else. If it's decided any other way, it would be an injustice," Nasru said.

However, he highlighted that Shamha's age maybe factored in as a disadvantage for her and defended his position on the matter by saying that the outlook in sports should focus on how best to achieve results and that age is not something considered by the Olympics either.

"Shamha is still ahead of younger athletes when training performance and records are compared," Nasru defended the 40 year old athlete.

"[She] has achieved all the road event records. [She] is now focusing on track event records," he revealed.

Shamha has previously represented Maldives in the 100 metre Olympics event, and aspires to compete in the Olympics marathon one day.