PHNOM PENH – The red-rubber track is where Shanti Pereira likes to hunt. It is also where the Singaporean sprinter has been stamping her mark in a record-breaking 2023, in stadiums across Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.
But when Pereira steps onto the track at the Morodok Techo Athletics Stadium on Monday for her first race at the Cambodia SEA Games, the 26-year-old will find herself in an unusual spot.
The runner who enjoys chasing down rivals will see the roles reversed in Phnom Penh, with the top dog now with the target on her back as she aims for a historic sprint double in the women’s 100m (Friday) and 200m (Monday). She will also compete in the 4x100m relay.
Dealing with the spotlight is something she has had to cope with, as Pereira told The Straits Times earlier: “That’s just something I’m mentally prepped for heading into the season because over the years, I’ve grown and learnt that this is just part of the process. Success comes with extra attention, so it’s just part of it. With or without the attention, I show up, I train hard and deliver when I need to.”
In 2015, Pereira won her first Games gold medal on home soil in the 200m, but failed to retain it two years later. After overcoming injuries and personal doubt, she reclaimed the gold in Hanoi in 2022.
Clearly the favourite in the 2023 edition, Pereira has been in the form of her career this season – rewriting her 100m national record thrice and her 200m national mark twice in less than a month.
With her best times of 22.89sec and 11.37 in the 200m and 100m respectively, she is currently ranked first and second in Asia for 2023.
Malaysia’s Nur Aishah Rofina Aling – who finished second behind Pereira in the 100m at the 2022 Malaysian Open – has already publicly declared that she is aiming for Singapore’s sprint queen.
“Shanti will be the sprinter to watch in the SEA Games,” Aishah, 24, told the New Straits Times.
Others like 100m defending champion Kayla Richardson of the Philippines and Thailand’s Supanich Poolkerd will also be out for blood.
According to World Athletics, Richardson’s season best in the 100m clocked in March is 11.78, which is 0.41sec slower than Pereira’s personal best (PB). In the 200m, Richardson’s quickest timing in 2023 is 24.01.
Filipina Kristina Knott, who won gold in the 200m in 2019 and missed the Hanoi Games due to injury, is also expected to challenge Pereira. Knott posted a season’s best of 24.64 in the 200m on April 22 at the Tokyo Spring Challenge.
Pereira’s coach Luis Cunha said that they will not spend too much time on “external distractions” and are focused on “what Shanti can do”.
The Portuguese said: “It is a big year ahead. We need to think of the bigger picture because there is the Asian Games, Asian Athletics Championships and World Athletics Championships. No matter the competition, the mantra has always been to focus on what Shanti can do, which is to give her level best.
“We cannot waste time on what we can’t control. She has already put herself in athletics history books with what she has done this year, so let’s see what else is ahead.”
Singapore athletics legend C. Kunalan said Pereira is in a league of her own in 2023 and he is expecting her to win a historic double, a feat that no other Singaporean female sprinter has ever achieved.
Kunalan said: “An athlete will always sense the expectations around her. This time, she will know that everyone is expecting her to win... I have been looking at the way she speaks to the press and she is handling it well. In fact, her new-found status will be more of a confidence booster than bring about stress.”
Four-time SEA Games medallist Dipna Lim-Prasad said that her former teammate’s form is no coincidence and a result of her “finally running free from a few things that hung over her head”. She was referring to Pereira’s change in coach in January 2020 and becoming a full-time athlete.
Lim-Prasad said: “As a team, they have laid the foundations and the results speak for themselves. Pressure is going to be very high, but these are things that you can’t control. She is going into these Games with huge confidence and I do think she can do it.”
Singapore Athletics will be represented by 31 track and field athletes in Cambodia. At the last Games, Singapore won one gold, three silver and seven bronze medals in the sport. Five national records and eight PBs were achieved in what was the squad’s best performance since 1993.
Sprinter Marc Louis will be hoping to improve on his 100m bronze effort from the last Games, but will come up against Thai wonder boy Puripol Boonson – victorious in both the 100m and 200m in Hanoi – who is tipped for the double again in Cambodia.
Top distance runner Soh Rui Yong will mark his return to the major Games in the 5,000m and 10,000m as he battles double defending champion Nguyen Van Lai of Vietnam, while Ang Chen Xiang, who won a silver medal in the 110m hurdles at the last Games, will be looking for gold.
Other athletes such as Calvin Quek (400m hurdles) and Goh Chui Ling (women’s 800m, 1,500m and 10,000m), who won breakthrough medals at the last Games, are the other medal contenders.
Fans will also be on the lookout for the Filipino pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena, who set the Asian record of 5.94m en route to a bronze at the 2022 World Championships in Oregon, United States.
