KUALA LUMPUR: Azeem Fahmi must improve his performance and achieve faster times in the men's 100m to qualify for the Paris Olympics in July based on merit.
On Friday, the 20-year-old clocked a slow time of 10.36 seconds, finishing sixth in his heat at the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Track and Field Championships in Florida.
He finished 21st overall out of 34 sprinters in the field.
The Hangzhou Asian Games bronze medallist's timing was far off his national record of 10.09 and the Paris Olympic qualifying standard of 10.00.
Azeem, who is studying at Auburn University in Alabama, has until the end of June to meet the qualifying mark.
In Florida, Godson Oghenebr of Louisiana topped the heats with a time of 10.05, followed by Wanya McCoy of Florida (10.09) and Kanyinsola Ajayi of Auburn (10.13). Azeem achieved a season best of 10.24 at the Louisiana State University (LSU) Invitational last month.
Malaysian Athletics Federation technical director John Ballard said Azeem must improve to qualify for the Paris Olympics on merit.
"He is ranked No. 48 in the Road to Paris rankings and must maintain top 56 by the end of June to secure a spot in the Olympics either through merit or a wildcard entry,
"Recording 10.36 will not help him in achieving his dream," said Ballard.
Azeem will be competing in the National Collegiate AA Championships in two weeks' time.
The 100m event at the Paris Olympics will feature a maximum of 56 sprinters.