ST Athlete of the Year nominee: Shanti Pereira’s letter to her younger self
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Shanti Pereira at the women's 200-metre heat 4 event during the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, on Aug 4 last year.
ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
Dear Little Shanti,
It’s early 2016 and you’re 19. You’ve just won the 200m gold at the SEA Games at home in 2015 and you’re excited. Of course you are. You found your best on your biggest day.
You’re a kid in sporting terms, you’ve never tasted such success, never understood the pressure which follows it, never considered the dips in form which afflict everyone. Not just you but also world champions.
And you don’t know it’s going to be seven, testing, frustrating years before you repeat the 200m feat again. You’re going to win SEA Games gold again, but it’s going to take hard work and a change of perspective. No one said sport was easy.
When you win gold in 2015, pressure arrives like a suffocating wave and you become afraid of it. Negativity infects you. Running is supposed to be fun but it leaks away. There’s much to learn and the first thing is to focus on what you can control. How fast your competitors run isn’t in your control. Neither is what people say. If you have a flat race, their reactions don’t matter. If they call you a one-hit wonder, just let it go. The more this festers in the head, the more unhealthy it becomes.
Patience – never forget that word. Becoming fast can be a slow business. Everyone’s trying to improve and just changing a simple hip movement won’t happen overnight. It takes time, practice and consistency.
You’ll have tough training days when you’re not able to execute repetitions the way you and your coach want, and you’ll think, “Oh God, I’m not improving.” But that’s not how it works. Bad days are a part of the process. As someone very important to you will later say: “Not every day is Sunday.”
The brain works best when it’s relaxed and purposeful. Don’t forget that when you go through spasms of overthinking (I know, you do that a lot). It’s OK to get upset over small things like taking the wrong exit overseas in a rental car. After all, that’s just who you are. But then take some time and calm down. Everything will be fine. Energy is precious, so don’t waste it on the past.
Nothing is the end of the world, though you’ll think it is. Life will feel like it’s ganging up on you. You’ll graduate and won’t be sure what to do with your life. At the same time you won’t be running well and it will puncture your confidence. But hardship and heartbreak is normal in your business. It has to be endured. So seek help, persist, and you’ll find a way.
Eventually, you’ll simplify your life. You’ll figure out anger steals focus. You’ll start to hang onto positives. You’ll become appreciative of this gift that God has given you, the opportunities to pursue your dream and your amazing support system of family, friends, coach and sports scientists. You’ll learn to enjoy the process, adapt to a different lifestyle and take things as they come.
It’s called growing up, kiddo. A scary yet wonderful thing.
There are great days and lousy ones. Sometimes we get so caught up in our little worlds that we forget this happens to everyone. But you must stick with it because your time will come as it did in 2022. The older you will hit a series of personal bests in the 200m and 100m. You’ll feel lighter and freer, your brain clearer and your feet faster.
You’ll cry and grin and you’ll remember the most beautiful and basic thing. You love running.
Take care,
Shanti