Coach Luis Cunha surprised as Shanti Pereira breaks national records for 3 straight days
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National sprinter Shanti Pereira (right) and her coach Luis Cunha after she achieved her latest national record on Sunday.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF LUIS CUNHA
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SINGAPORE – The records just keep tumbling for national sprinter Shanti Pereira.
On Sunday, the 26-year-old clocked 22.89 seconds for her latest national mark en route to winning her 200m heat at the Australian Open Track and Field Championships in Brisbane.
It eclipsed her previous best – set on March 25 at the Brisbane Track Classic – by 0.27sec.
It was the third time she had broken a national record in as many days and the fifth time in a month.
It led to her coach Luis Cunha, who described himself as “astounded” by the latest timing, to admit that he did not expect Pereira to be running this fast, this early in the season.
He added that he would need to relook their plans.
Part of that re-evaluation saw Pereira pulling out of Sunday’s final.
Cunha said: “She has been competing at a high level and physically and mentally, it is very tiring for her, so we decided it’s better to not run (in the final).
“I don’t know if there are any athletes of her level that were able to break so many records in just one month.
“This is too much for one athlete.
“Because of Covid-19 and the disruptions to the calendar last year, 2023 is going to be a very challenging and long season.
“These records are not times we expected this early in the season.
“It was not part of the plan to run so fast and so many times in the last month.
“So we need to relook at how we can take the next step.”
Cunha also referenced the leaps that Pereira has taken as he recounted how she was unable to qualify for the final of the same event in 2022.
But his protege is now causing him to run out of superlatives.
He used the word “unbelievable” a total of nine times when he spoke to ST on Sunday.
“This is just unbelievable. It is a world-class performance and it is not just another day in the job,” said the 58-year-old Portuguese.
“Today she did something incredible and to think she has broken all these records in a short space of time is just unbelievable.”
Pereira has been surprised by her own feats in 2023 as well.
On Sunday, after she became the first Singaporean woman to go under 23sec in the 200m, she covered her mouth with her hands to contain her surprise.
Pereira told ST: “I was super surprised. I was feeling the tiredness from running all the races the past few days and month.
“I did not think that I had that in me today of all days.
“When I crossed the line, I had to do a double take and when I realised it was 22.89, I was just in shock...
“It’s crazy to be able to run under 23 seconds and it is something I have worked on for a long time.”
Compatriot Elizabeth-Ann Tan, who ran in the same heat as Pereira, also had a day to remember.
She clocked a new personal best of 24.23sec to become the second-fastest Singaporean woman over 200m.
It has been a jubilant weekend for Pereira.
On Saturday, she bettered her own national record in the women’s 100m final
She had lowered her mark – set in the heats on Friday – by 0.01sec.
She had also rewritten the national records at the New Zealand Track and Field Championships in Wellington and at the Brisbane Track Classic in March.
But her immediate goal will be to claim a double gold at the May 5-17 Cambodia SEA Games.
At the Hanoi SEA Games in May 2022, Pereira won the 200m
After that, there will be tougher tests at the July 12-16 Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok and the Hangzhou Asian Games from Sept 23 to Oct 8.
Her record 200m time of 22.89sec will put her in good stead for the Asian Games – at the last edition in 2018, Bahrain’s Edidiong Odiong won the gold in 22.96sec.
She will return to Singapore on Tuesday and is looking forward to resting and spending time with her family and boyfriend.
What else is she looking forward to when she is back home? “Doing things that I enjoy away from the track like shopping and make-up. And I need to have my Toast Box teh C and anything with lots of sambal chilli,” she said.
