SINGAPORE – Sprint queen Shanti Pereira dusted off the confetti from her Asian conquest and now has her eyes set on Europe.
She clocked 23.32 seconds to claim gold in the 200m at the Mittsommernacht Athletics meet, beating German Gina Luckenkemper, current European 100m and 4x100m relay champion, by 0.09sec in Berlin on Sunday.
Reflecting on her victory, Pereira, 26, said: “It’s quite crazy that I’m here and I’m winning these competitions. I’m enjoying the whole process and learning with each and every race.
“Gina is a very, very good 100m sprinter which means that the first part of the race is really fast, so the idea was to not panic and follow through with the 200 strength that I have.”
Asked whether she was focusing on timings or beating opponents in the races, she said: “It’s more just gaining competition experience and learning how to execute in this kind of high-pressure competition, because that’s what it’s going to be like when I compete at Worlds and at the Asian Games.”
Before the Aug 19-27 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Pereira will head to Malmo, Sweden, for the Folksam Grand Prix on Aug 5 and Copenhagen, Denmark, on Aug 9.
These will lead to her big assignment for the year – the Sept 23-Oct 8 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. Pereira, who won an unprecedented sprint double at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok in July, owns the fastest times in both the 100m (11.20sec) and 200m (22.69sec) for a female Asian sprinter this season.
Her coach Luis Cunha has his sights set on the continental meet. He said: “The most important goal of the season is the Asian Games, with the stopover at the World Champs in August.
“So the idea is to use this to boost her confidence to be able to run with the world’s top athletes. It was good that they organised this (competition) between the Asian champ and the European champ.
“For the Asian Games, she can’t go there just to participate because she’s the Asian champ and the goal is to be there and fight for medals.”
Singapore Athletics president Lien Choong Luen said he is “quietly confident” on her behalf for the Asiad.
He said: “Very happy for her to be able to go from strength to strength. It has been a pretty long, interesting season, definitely not an easy one.”
Lien also feels that Pereira is “inspiring a new generation” of South-east Asian athletes with her recent results.
He said: “Shanti and coach Luis Cunha’s string of stellar performances lend weight to this and also help us stand on a par with our neighbours.
“Everyone is constantly improving, and so must we.
“So at this Asian Games – we have no demands or expectations because I know she and her coach are their own best motivators.”
