SINGAPORE – A week in which she sealed qualification for the Paris Olympics and became the first Singaporean to reach the semi-finals of the World Athletics Championships is a “dream come true” for Shanti Pereira.
While the 26-year-old did not progress from her 200m semi-finals on Thursday, she had already created more history for herself and the Republic at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest.
The 22.57 seconds she clocked in Wednesday’s heats, bettering her previous national mark of 22.69sec, earned her a spot at the 2024 Games.
Speaking over a phone call from the Hungarian capital, Pereira said: “The record and qualifying for the Olympics, these are really the biggest things that could have happened.
“It is a dream come true to do that at the World Championships. It is my fourth time here and I got to run three times.”
On Thursday, she clocked 22.79sec to finish sixth in the third semi-final. Reigning 200m world champion Shericka Jackson of Jamaica was fastest in 22sec. The top two from each of the three semi-finals advanced to the final, along with the next two fastest runners.
Pereira was 17th overall among the 24 entrants with American Gabrielle Thomas fastest in 21.97sec. The final qualifier was Anthonique Strachan of the Bahamas in 22.30sec. The 200m final result was unavailable at press time.
While she has competed in the 200m at three previous world championships as a wild card, Pereira had booked her spot for the 2023 edition through her world rankings in both the 100m and 200m. She is the first Singaporean to do so since at least 2011, when national body Singapore Athletics began to track such data.
Last Sunday, she missed out on a spot in the women’s 100m semi-finals after finishing fourth in the second heat in 11.33sec, short of her 11.20sec personal best.
Pereira said being around world-class athletes has been a source of validation. “The line-up of athletes is just crazy,” she added. “This is what I’ve always worked towards, to be competing with the best.
“Even before the race, I was looking around me and going ‘oh my gosh’. They are the best in the world. I couldn’t believe that I was there.”
Since March, she has rewritten her 100m national mark six times and the 200m four times.
Gold medals have also arrived along with the fast timings. In July, she won a historic 100-200m sprint double at the Asian Championships in Bangkok, just two months after doing so at the SEA Games in Phnom Penh.
Her coach Luis Cunha was proud of his protege’s performances and said: “At the SEA Games she put Singapore on the South-east Asian sports map. At the Asian Championships, she put Singapore on the Asian athletics map. And now, she’s putting Asia on the sprint athletics map and Singapore on the world athletics map.
“I feel blessed and grateful to be able to be involved in all these inspired moments from Shanti’s performances, for so many people in Singapore. It’s been an amazing season and I can’t ask for more. I can assure you that while this is a nice journey, it has been a difficult one. I am proud of her.”
Pereira has two more competitions in Switzerland and in Italy before returning home in September. She then heads to China for her main assignment, the Sept 23-Oct 8 Asian Games in Hangzhou. She will start as the favourite, having clocked the fastest times in Asia for both distances this season.
Her latest achievements are a “huge confidence boost” for the Asiad, but Pereira is not about to throw a party any time soon. “All the celebrations (will happen) after the Asian Games. The year is not over yet. The biggest competition is still to come. I really appreciate all the support back home,” she said.
She is looking forward to the off-season though.
“Rest. I am just excited to rest. I’ve been thinking of taking a holiday and my boyfriend (former runner Tan Zong Yang) and I booked one to South Korea after the Asian Games,” she said.
