Shanti Pereira falls short of 100m semi-finals at World Athletics Championships
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Shanti Pereira (left) is beaten by Spain's Jael Bestue to third in their 100m heats at the World Athletics Championships.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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SINGAPORE – She is the fastest Asian woman in 2023 but Shanti Pereira was not able to reach her top speed on Sunday in the 100m heats of the World Athletics Championships and missed out on qualification for the semi-finals.
Pereira, 26, clocked 11.33 seconds to finish fourth in Heat Two in Budapest. Brittany Brown of the United States (11.01sec) was first, ahead of Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith (11.04sec) and Spain’s Jael Bestue (11.28sec).
Her time was 0.13sec short of her personal best and national record of 11.20sec, recorded at July’s Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok where she completed an unprecedented sprint double.
“Really happy with the race today,” Pereira said. “Could have been executed a bit better, but really thankful I got a chance to race here with stellar athletes like Dina as I’ve been a fan for the longest time.
“Overall, it was amazing and I can’t wait for the 200.”
The first three finishers in each of the seven heats in Hungary plus the next three fastest times qualify for Monday’s semi-finals. The final is on the same day.
Pereira was ranked 31st of 54 sprinters in the 100m heats. American Sha’Carri Richardson, who missed the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 after testing positive for cannabis, was quickest in 10.92sec.
Pereira’s coach Luis Cunha told The Straits Times that his runner had come “very close” to meeting a target of 11.28sec, good enough to progress. “Overall, we are very satisfied with the performance. She continues to be the fastest Asian and this was a good indicator for us for the Asian Games and the upcoming 200m,” he said.
Another benefit that has come out of her entry is to be able to mix it with the best of the best, Cunha noted. He said: “She has been able to train and be among the best girls from the best countries, being around them and having conversations. She would feel she is part of the elite. This is good for the confidence of any athlete.”
The Republic’s other representative, Calvin Quek, 27, did not progress to the semi-finals of the 400m hurdles on his world championships debut. He finished last in his heat in 50.53sec, 0.10sec off his national record set on Aug 2.
Pereira, who qualified for the Aug 19-27 world meet on merit,
She has competed in the 200m of the world meet at three previous editions as a wild card. She had booked her spot this time 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.
Cunha said: “Our target for that is to reach the semis and to do that, we need to go below 23 seconds. Our expectation is based on what she has been doing in training. It will be difficult but we think it is possible.”
Her big assignment for the year is still the Sept 23-Oct 8 Asian Games in Hangzhou where she is a serious contender for gold after a breakthrough 2023. She has run the quickest times by an Asian woman in both sprint events this season.
Since March, Pereira has rewritten her 100m national mark six times and gone below her own 200m standard (22.69sec) thrice.
In May, she won the 100m and 200m gold at the SEA Games in Cambodia, becoming the first Singaporean female sprinter to complete the coveted double and she repeated the feat at the Asian Athletics Championships.
