Shanti Pereira misses out on Olympic 200m s-finals after finishing last in repechage heat
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Shanti Pereira (second from right) finishes last in the repechage round of the women's 200m and fails to qualify.
ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
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PARIS – Wistfully, Shanti Pereira looked up at the Stade de France scoreboard, finding herself in an unfamiliar position – last out of seven runners in her 200m race – and perhaps wondering what could have been.
She had been on such a high in 2023, winning titles at the Asian Athletics Championships and Asian Games
But her purple patch disappeared on Aug 5 as she zipped down Lane 3 in the sprawling 80,000-seater stadium.
She ended her Olympic campaign with a disappointing 23.45sec in the repechage and missed out on her target of reaching the semi-finals, as Canada’s Jacqueline Madogo won the heat with a personal-best 22.58.
The repechage is a new Olympic format introduced by World Athletics for athletes who did not qualify directly for the semi-finals through the heats in the 100m/110m hurdles, 200m, 400m, 400m hurdles, 800m and 1,500m.
Only the winners of the four repechage heats and the next two fastest qualify for the semi-finals, which will be held later that day.
Pereira was in the repechage after clocking 23.21 in Round 1
With tears in her eyes, the 27-year-old said at the media mixed zone: “The whole campaign just wasn’t what I wanted it to be like, especially after qualifying for it last year.
“I was looking forward to a lot better results here, semi-final spot at least for the 200m. So I’m sad, I’m heartbroken.
“It just sucks, but there’s nothing much I can do about it right now, in terms of my time. I’m allowed to feel frustrated and angry, so that’s what I’m going to be for a while before picking myself back up.
“I know I’m on a different level now in terms of my results over the past few years. Then the injury came, and I had to bounce back from that.”
Shanti Pereira (right) finishes last in heat 1 in the repechage round of the women’s 200m and fails to qualify for the semi-finals.
ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
After a blistering 2023, Pereira fractured her fibula in April
She said: “The timing of it was unfortunate because it was right when I was supposed to start my season. It affected the entire season, and we had to change a lot of plans.
“I couldn’t race for such a long time, which took away a lot of race experience and that’s a fundamental thing going into major Games because I was looking to advance to a few rounds. To do that requires a lot of experience, which I didn’t get to have a lot of.
“Training-wise, it took me back a few steps when I’m not able to properly sprint on the track for eight weeks.”
On Aug 2, she also did not progress to the semi-finals of the 100m
Cunha said: “We cannot consider it a disappointing campaign because she did a performance that no one in Singapore did before.
“We expected a little bit more, but this is her best Olympics and her second-best major competition ever because she already competed in a few world championships and only last year was better.
“We saw (Jamaica sprinters) Sherika Jackson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce did not start, there was a lot of drama, and that’s sport. This time was our time to not be happy, but last year there were so many happy moments, and we hope next year will be a better year.”
Pereira made her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 when she competed on a universality invite, finishing sixth in her 200m heat with a season-best 23.96sec to place 39th out of 41 overall.
The duo are considering ending Pereira’s season after the Olympics and kicking off the next one early to prepare for the Asian championships, world championships and SEA Games.
There is no doubt that she will be back at the Los Angeles 2028 Games.
Finally allowing herself to laugh when asked about her determination and defiance, Pereira said: “A lot of people have been telling me that.
“(Another Olympics) is the goal... I’m not going to give up. I’m just going to take this as a learning point and a part of my journey.
“It happens to everybody, even the best of the best. I have to accept that, and I know for a fact it’s going to make me stronger.”
