KUALA LUMPUR: Sprinter Azeem Fahmi and Shereen Samson Vallabouy kept their Paris Olympic hopes alive by qualifying for the men's 100m and women's 400m finals, respectively, at the Kazakhstan Open in Almaty on Saturday.
Azeem, a bronze medallist at last year's Hangzhou Asian Games, clocked 10.61 seconds — the second-fastest time in the heats — to reach the final.
The 20-year-old must clock 10.20 to break into the top 56 of the Road to Paris rankings and earn an Olympic berth.
Shereen achieved the fastest time of 54.16 to qualify for the women's 400m final.
She needs to beat her national record of 51.79 to have a chance at qualifying for the Olympics.
Both finals are later on Saturday.