Five things to know about Singapore's sprint queen Shanti Pereira

HANGZHOU, China: On Monday (Oct 2), Singapore sprinter Shanti Pereira won a historic gold in the 200m final at the Asian Games, her second medal in Hangzhou.

Last Saturday, the 27-year-old ended Singapore's nearly 50-year wait for a track and field medal at the Asian Games, after she clinched silver in the women's 100m. She will next compete in the 4x100m relay final on Tuesday.

Here's what you should know about Singapore's sprint queen:

1. She comes from a sporty family

Pereira’s parents Clarence and Jeet used to run during their time in school as did her older brother Anand.

Pereira’s older sister Valerie, a former national sprinter, was a particularly big influence on her.

In previous interviews, the 27-year-old recalled how she supported Valerie at track meets and was eventually inspired to take up the sport.

She followed in her sister’s footsteps to enrol in Singapore Sports School and the rest is history.

2. Her big breakthrough in 2015

Already a rising star, Pereira announced herself to the nation at the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore.

She won gold in the 200m event, clocking a personal best and setting a new national record. The win also ended a 42-year gold medal drought for Singapore in a Games sprint event.

The then 18-year-old’s time of 23.60s was a new national record, eclipsing the mark of 23.82s she set in the heats of the event.

She also clinched a bronze medal in the 100m.

“I was just excited to be there, competing in front of a home crowd,” Pereira told CNA previously.

But her 200m win in 2015 came with expectations.

“It created a lot of pressure and I feel like I didn't have the experience to cope with it yet,” Pereira said.

3. She battled self-doubt, pressure and critics

The next edition of the Games in 2017 ended in tears for Pereira, as she finished with a pair of bronze medals in the 100m and 200m.

Then came two injuries in 2018, the year she was omitted from the Sport Excellence Scholarship programme. Within a week of that blow, she also lost a scholarship from her university after failing to maintain a minimum grade point average (GPA).

Some people began to write her off, said Pereira.

"Slowly, people just kind of lost faith in me. People have their opinions about my journey, and whatnot. I think, for a while there, I really did let it get to me, which is not ideal. I want to be in a state mentally strong and things like that don't affect me, but for a while it really did."

But the support from her family and coach, coupled with a change in mindset, set her on an upward trajectory from early 2022.

"I reached a point where I just told myself that it really doesn't matter what people think of you," she said.

"I have people in my corner, and they really believe in me. They have absolute trust in me that I am not at the end of my career. And I think I just fed off that energy more.”

4. A historic 2023

The Singaporean sprinter has been in sensational form this year.

Since March, she has rewritten her 200m national mark four times and her 100m record six times.

In May, she became the first Singaporean woman to win both the 100m and 200m events at the same edition of the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games and then followed that up with a sprint double at the Asian Athletics Championships in July.

In August, Pereira became the first Singaporean to make a World Championships semi-finals after a stellar showing in the 200m.

She also met the qualifying mark for the event at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

5. A book has been written about her

After Pereira's first SEA Games gold in 2015, her older sisters Valerie and Shobi were inspired to write a children’s book to tell the story of her journey and triumph.

Entitled “Go Shanti! Go”, the book was published in 2020 and aimed to inspire the next generation of sporting heroes.

"After I won the 200m, my sisters told me that a lot of people (who had bought the book previously) picked it up again. They revisited it, so that was nice," Pereira told CNA.