Shanti Pereira Wins Silver At Asian Games 100m Event, S’pore’s 1st Medal In 49 Years

Shanti Wins Silver At Asian Games To Snag S’pore’s 1st Track Medal Since 1974

Given Singapore sprint queen Shanti Pereira’s red-hot form in 2023, hopes were high that she would do well in the ongoing Asian Games.

She has duly delivered, winning silver in the Women’s 100m event.

In doing so, she has won Singapore’s first track and field medal at the Asian Games in 49 years.

Shanti notches time of 11.27s at Asian Games event

Shanti, 27, was in Asian Games action on Saturday (30 Sep) night, competing in the Women’s 100m Finals at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium.

According to Team Singapore’s post on Facebook, she came in second with a speedy time of 11.27 seconds.

She was eclipsed only by China’s Ge Manqi, who came in first with a time of 11.23s.

Hajar Saad Saeed Saad Alkhadi, from Bahrain, snagged the bronze with 11.35s.

Singapore’s last Asian Games medal won in 1974

The last time Singapore won an Asian Games medal in athletics was way back in 1974 when Chee Swee Lee got gold in the Women’s 400m event.

Thus, Shanti’s achievement of scoring our 19th Asiad athletics medal is historic.

On a personal note, this is the first time Shanti has competed in the Asian Games 100m finals, so winning a silver on her first attempt is nothing short of amazing.

This is especially true since she had fierce rivals in Ge and Wei Yongli from China, as well as Ofonime Odiong and Saeed Alkhaldi from Bahrain.

They all had faster personal bests than Shanti, whose personal best in the event was 11.20s.

‘I knew I had to give my absolute all’: Shanti

Speaking to Olympics.com, Shanti said the podium finish felt “incredible”.

Professing not to have known that it was almost 50 years since Singapore’s Asian Games medal, she said she nevertheless knew she had to give her “absolute all” for the race, adding,

I was up against really, really stiff competition…. I’m really glad with how it turned out.

Shanti made it to Asian Games final due to fast timing

Shanti made it to the finals by virtue of her performance in the heats on Friday (29 Sep).

There was a scare when she finished sixth overall with a time of 11.42s but fell out of the automatic qualification spots.

However, she went through anyway, recording the fastest time outside of the sprinters who qualified automatically.

This paved the way for her to outrun most of the competition in the finals and clinch a long-awaited medal for her country.

200m event up next for Shanti

Despite her already stellar results, Shanti’s Asian Games journey isn’t over yet.

She still has to run in the 200m — her pet event.

The heats are on Sunday (1 Oct), with the finals on Monday (2 Oct).

She will finish off the Games with the 4x100m relay on Tuesday (3 Oct).

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Featured image adapted from Singapore Athletics on Facebook and Singapore National Olympic Council via Team Singapore on Facebook.