SINGAPORE – Shanti Pereira has made a habit out of collecting gold medals and on Monday, as she returned to Singapore after making history at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok, the sprint queen was handed a different item that made her smile widely all the same.
A young fan, Neha, who is national team manager Ghana Segaran’s granddaughter, gave Pereira a white unicorn soft toy and posed for a picture with the runner. The five-year-old later remarked that “Shanti was so fast, she ran like a unicorn”.
Like the mythical animal, Pereira, 26, has continued to capture the imagination and on Sunday, she won the 200m final to seal an unprecedented sprint double at the continental meet.
She clocked a championship record of 22.70 seconds in the 200m while on Friday, she won the 100m in a national record of 11.20sec. Her triumph in the century sprint ended Singapore’s 16-year medal drought at the Asian meet – it was also a first track medal for the Republic there since 1975.
Former national sprinter U.K. Shyam, who still holds the men’s 100m national record of 10.37sec, said that Pereira’s latest achievements mark “a new paradigm in Singapore sprinting”.
The 47-year-old teacher, said: “I was not surprised at all that she was able to win the double because she has been consistently running such fast times. Her performance is going to inspire generations to come. These are world-class performances and an amazing signal for Singapore sports that one can be the top Asian in their field.
“In my time, it was not so easy to be world-class. The narrative in Singapore sports is changing and Shanti is helping with that.”
Since March, Pereira has rewritten her 100m national mark six times and gone below her own 200m standard 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.
Shyam is now expecting Pereira to make it a three-peat of 100-200m titles at the Sept 23-Oct 8 Hangzhou Asian Games.
“We don’t want to put too much pressure on her but logically it is reasonable to expect her to go on and win the double there,” he said.
Pereira has previously said that she hopes to inspire others with her heroics on the track and Singapore sprint legend C. Kunalan believes her latest milestone will go beyond athletics.
The 80-year-old retiree said: “She is now Asia’s best. A lot of people are going to be motivated and realise the significance of what she has done. Young athletes will be saying to themselves, ‘If Shanti can do it, I want to do it too’.”
He added that Pereira’s switch to a full-time athlete in January was a crucial factor in her success, and that her ascent to the region’s best was a crucial lesson for athletes and parents.
Four-time SEA Games medallist Dipna Lim-Prasad said that she and the local athletics fraternity have been “swept up by the magical season” of her former teammate. Lim-Prasad, who is the vice-chairman of the Singapore National Olympic Council’s Athletes’ Commission, said that Pereira’s win serves as a shining example for those looking to pursue sports as a career.
Describing Pereira as a trailblazer, she said: “For up-and-coming athletes, it is very exciting to see someone achieve all these things and it makes them feel like it (being first in Asia) is something that is within reach for you. Of course everyone knows it is not easy to get there but Shanti has shown it is possible. Her success also removes a mental barrier for most people because it shows that a Singaporean can get there.
“A lot of Singaporeans can connect with her story of reaching the top by showing grit to get over the stumbling blocks.”
