BANGKOK – Shanti Pereira is an athlete who wears her heart on her sleeve, particularly when it comes to the SEA Games.
At the Hanoi Games in 2022, there were tears and disbelief after winning her second gold medal in the 200m, seven years after her first.
She was once again visibly emotional and fighting back tears in 2023, when she became the first Singaporean woman to claim a sprint double at the Cambodia Games.
On Dec 13, however, after retaining her 200m crown to complete a historic double-double for Singapore at the biennial event, Pereira was cool, calm and candid.
“I’m really happy I managed to win today, but kind of disappointed, though. I wish I did a better time today, honestly, because my training indicated I could definitely go faster, and so did my warm-up.
“(But) that’s okay. The goal was to come and defend my title and I did that, so I’m really happy,” said Pereira, who blazed to victory in the final at the Supachalasai National Stadium in 23.05 seconds.
Vietnam’s Le Thi Cam Tu bagged the silver in 23.14sec, with Zion Nelson of the Philippines taking the bronze in 23.50sec.
Pereira, 29, who holds the national record of 22.57sec, is the first Singaporean to win the 100m and 200m women’s titles in back-to-back Games, after retaining her 100m gold with a time of 11.36sec on Dec 11.
She joins Vietnam’s Vu Thi Huong (2007 and 2009) as the only women from the region to achieve such a feat.
Singapore sprint queen Shanti Pereira sprinting past the finish line in the women’s 200m final at the SEA Games at Suphachalasai National Stadium in Bangkok on Dec 13.
On joining Huong in the exclusive club, Pereira was more visibly surprised.
