SINGAPORE: Shanti Pereira cemented her reputation as one of Asia's top sprinters at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok, where her blistering form carried her to a golden sprint double.
Her 200m win on Sunday (Jul 16) was a new meet record and came on the back of her 100m victory on Friday.
The truimphs added to list of achievements that seems to be growing at breakneck speed.
Her potential was already clear during her early days on the track, but she made her first major breakthrough at the 2015 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
Winning in the 200m event, she set a new national record and ended Singapore's 42-year gold medal drought in a Games sprint event. She also finished third in the 100m.
She followed that up with two bronzes in the 100m and 200m at the 2017 SEA Games, and another two at the 2019 SEA Games.
Then at the subsequent Games held in 2022 in Vietnam, Pereira recaptured her 200m crown by erasing her own national record, and finished second in the 100m event.
It would pave the way for what has been a blistering 2023 so far.
CNA retraces her achievements over the past few months, and what lies ahead for the 26-year-old Singaporean.
Pereira rewrote her own 100m national record in her first race of the year at the New Zealand Track and Field Championships in Wellington in March.
She did it without having raced in a competitive meet since the 2022 Commonwealth Games in August.
Her time of 11.46s in her heat eclipsed her previous national mark by 0.02s.
Speaking to CNA at the time, Pereira described the achievement as a "very pleasant surprise".
"I wanted to go out strong and just focus on the technical aspects of it."
At the Australia Open Track and Field Championships in Brisbane, Pereira broke her national records thrice in three days.
She first clocked a time of 11.38s to win her 100m heat on Mar 31 to eclipse her own national mark by 0.08s, then won the final a day later, going 0.01s even faster.
The next day, she set her third national record in as many days when she timed 22.89s in the women’s 200m heat.
In doing so, she smashed her own mark of 23.16s set at the Brisbane Track Classic about a week ago.
But she pulled out of the 200m final later, with her coach Luis Cunha explaining that this was to avoid overstretching her both physically and mentally.
"This has been mentally very tiring (for her) ... Every time she ran in the past three weeks, it was equalling the national record or a national record. You have no idea how stressful this can be," he told CNA at the time.
At the 32nd SEA Games held in Phnom Penh in May, Pereira became the first Singaporean woman to win both the 100m and 200m race at the same edition of the Games.
In the process, she also set a national and SEA Games record by clocking in a time of 22.69s for the 200m.
It erased her national mark of 22.89s - set by herself - as well as the SEA Games record of 23.01s, set by Philippines’ Kristina Knott in 2019.
She admitted that the possibility of making history at the Games was on her mind.
Said Pereira after her double: "I'm not going to lie, it was. (It's just) facts, my timing coming into the Games and the winning time at past editions.
"That was definitely something I thought about, but at the end of the day, you never know what's going to happen until the day itself, on the start line."
Pereira's hot streak continued at the Asian Athletics Championships held in Bangkok over the past week, where she clinched an unprecedented sprint double.
Her time of 11.20s in the 100m on Friday was yet another new national record and the sixth time she has smashed the mark this year alone. It also came mere weeks after she last did so in Germany.
She followed this up with a win in the 200m on Sunday, setting a meet record of 22.70s in the process.
Her time shaved 0.04s off the previous mark set by Bahrain's Salwa Eid Naser in 2019, and was also just 0.01s shy of equalling her own national record.
There is the World Athletics Championships in Budapest next month.
But more realistically for Pereira, she will be looking at the Asian Games in Hangzhou in September and October for medal hopes.
If her performances at the recent Asian Athletics Championships are any indication, she has a good chance of adding to her burgeoning 2023 trophy cabinet.
Her 11.20s and 22.70s in Bangkok are faster than the previous Asian Games' winning times - 11.30s for the 100m and 22.96 for the 200m.
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Her 200m win on Sunday (Jul 16) was a new meet record and came on the back of her 100m victory on Friday.
The truimphs added to list of achievements that seems to be growing at breakneck speed.
Her potential was already clear during her early days on the track, but she made her first major breakthrough at the 2015 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
Winning in the 200m event, she set a new national record and ended Singapore's 42-year gold medal drought in a Games sprint event. She also finished third in the 100m.
She followed that up with two bronzes in the 100m and 200m at the 2017 SEA Games, and another two at the 2019 SEA Games.
Then at the subsequent Games held in 2022 in Vietnam, Pereira recaptured her 200m crown by erasing her own national record, and finished second in the 100m event.
It would pave the way for what has been a blistering 2023 so far.
CNA retraces her achievements over the past few months, and what lies ahead for the 26-year-old Singaporean.
Related:
FLYING START TO 2023
Pereira rewrote her own 100m national record in her first race of the year at the New Zealand Track and Field Championships in Wellington in March.
She did it without having raced in a competitive meet since the 2022 Commonwealth Games in August.
Her time of 11.46s in her heat eclipsed her previous national mark by 0.02s.
Speaking to CNA at the time, Pereira described the achievement as a "very pleasant surprise".
"I wanted to go out strong and just focus on the technical aspects of it."
BREAKS NATIONAL RECORD THRICE IN THREE DAYS
At the Australia Open Track and Field Championships in Brisbane, Pereira broke her national records thrice in three days.
She first clocked a time of 11.38s to win her 100m heat on Mar 31 to eclipse her own national mark by 0.08s, then won the final a day later, going 0.01s even faster.
The next day, she set her third national record in as many days when she timed 22.89s in the women’s 200m heat.
In doing so, she smashed her own mark of 23.16s set at the Brisbane Track Classic about a week ago.
But she pulled out of the 200m final later, with her coach Luis Cunha explaining that this was to avoid overstretching her both physically and mentally.
"This has been mentally very tiring (for her) ... Every time she ran in the past three weeks, it was equalling the national record or a national record. You have no idea how stressful this can be," he told CNA at the time.
2023 SEA GAMES DOUBLE
At the 32nd SEA Games held in Phnom Penh in May, Pereira became the first Singaporean woman to win both the 100m and 200m race at the same edition of the Games.
In the process, she also set a national and SEA Games record by clocking in a time of 22.69s for the 200m.
It erased her national mark of 22.89s - set by herself - as well as the SEA Games record of 23.01s, set by Philippines’ Kristina Knott in 2019.
She admitted that the possibility of making history at the Games was on her mind.
Said Pereira after her double: "I'm not going to lie, it was. (It's just) facts, my timing coming into the Games and the winning time at past editions.
"That was definitely something I thought about, but at the end of the day, you never know what's going to happen until the day itself, on the start line."
Also read:
ASIAN ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLE
Pereira's hot streak continued at the Asian Athletics Championships held in Bangkok over the past week, where she clinched an unprecedented sprint double.
Her time of 11.20s in the 100m on Friday was yet another new national record and the sixth time she has smashed the mark this year alone. It also came mere weeks after she last did so in Germany.
She followed this up with a win in the 200m on Sunday, setting a meet record of 22.70s in the process.
Her time shaved 0.04s off the previous mark set by Bahrain's Salwa Eid Naser in 2019, and was also just 0.01s shy of equalling her own national record.
WHAT NEXT FOR PEREIRA?
There is the World Athletics Championships in Budapest next month.
But more realistically for Pereira, she will be looking at the Asian Games in Hangzhou in September and October for medal hopes.
If her performances at the recent Asian Athletics Championships are any indication, she has a good chance of adding to her burgeoning 2023 trophy cabinet.
Her 11.20s and 22.70s in Bangkok are faster than the previous Asian Games' winning times - 11.30s for the 100m and 22.96 for the 200m.
Related:
Continue reading...