After gaining numerous medals and breaking records for Singapore, sprint queen Shanti Pereira has been recognised for being the inspiring figure that she is.
On Friday (8 March), she was inducted into the Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame (SWHF) by a local women’s organisation.
Source: Singapore National Olympic Council via Singapore Sports Hub on Facebook
Honoured alongside her were nine other women in various categories of endeavour.
In a press release sent to MS News, the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO) said 10 women were inducted into the SWHF on Friday (8 March) — which was International Women’s Day.
They were:
Shanti was the youngest of this year’s honorees.
With the addition of these 10, the SWHF now has 192 honourees.
The 10 women were inducted at a ceremony in The Fullerton Hotel during the SWHF ceremony on Friday (8 March).
Gracing the occasion were President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and his wife Jane Ittogi, who is also the patron of the SCWO.
The inductees and their representatives with the President and his wife. Photo courtesy of SCWO.
He presented each inductee or their representative with a glass trophy named “The Flame”, which represents the vitality of the Hall of Fame women and the torch of inspiration that is passed from one generation to another.
As Shanti couldn’t be present at the event, her mother Bridget accepted the award on her behalf.
In their release, SCWO said Shanti was deemed by some a few years ago to be a “one-hit wonder” who couldn’t build on her early promise.
However, she went on to have an outstanding 2023.
At the May SEA Games in Phnom Penh, she became the first Singaporean woman to win both the 100m and 200m sprints at the same SEA Games.
Then in July at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok, she again won double gold.
At the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, she clocked 22.57s during the 200m heats, matching the qualifying time for entry to the Paris Olympics.
Most impressively, she won silver in the women’s 100m race at the 2023 Asian Games at Hangzhou — Singapore’s first track and field medal at the Asian Games in 49 years.
Source: Singapore Athletics on Facebook
She then won gold in the 200m event, Singapore’s first Asian Games gold in athletics since 1974.
Her successes were “all the more remarkable” due to her previously being dismissed, SCWO added.
The SWHF was launched in 2014 to recognise and honour Singapore’s most outstanding women in all categories of endeavour, SCWO said.
It aspires to document and share their stories to inspire others, especially young girls.
Shanti’s father Clarence Pereira told Channel NewsAsia (CNA) that it was “about time” his daughter got the recognition as she’s been working hard to reach that level. He added:
We are very proud, the whole family’s proud and I think she made Singapore proud.
Also read: Shanti Pereira Is S’pore’s Iconic Sprint Queen, Lost 2 Scholarships But Didn’t Give Up
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Featured image adapted from Singapore National Olympic Council via Singapore Sports Hub on Facebook and courtesy of SCWO.
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