Shanti Pereira

Veronica Shanti Pereira (born 20 September 1996)[3] is a Singaporean track and field athlete who specialises in the 100 metres, 200 metres, 4 x 100 metres relay, and 4 x 400 metres relay. She holds the national records for the 100m (11.37s)[4] and 200m (22.69s)[5] and has won multiple medals at the SEA Games. She also holds the record for the 200m at the SEA Games.[5]

Shanti Pereira
Pereira after winning the 200m at the 2023 SEA Games
Personal information
Born (1996-09-21) 21 September 1996
Singapore[1]
Height1.64 m (5 ft 4+1⁄2 in)[2]
Weight54 kg (119 lb)[2]
Sport
CountrySingapore
SportAthletics
Event(s)100 metres, 200 metres, 4 x 100 metres relay, 4 x 400 metres relay
Medal record
Women's Athletics
Representing  Singapore
Southeast Asian Games
Gold medal – first place2015 Singapore200 metres
Gold medal – first place2021 Vietnam200 metres
Gold medal – first place2023 Cambodia100 metres
Gold medal – first place2023 Cambodia200 metres
Silver medal – second place2021 Vietnam100 metres
Bronze medal – third place2015 Singapore100 metres
Bronze medal – third place2017 Kuala Lumpur100 metres
Bronze medal – third place2017 Kuala Lumpur200 metres
Bronze medal – third place2019 Philippines200 metres
Bronze medal – third place2019 Philippines100 metres

Career
Pereira in the 100 metres final at the 2015 SEA Games, in which she won the bronze medal
Pereira in the 200 metres final at the 2015 SEA Games, in which she won the gold medal and rewrote her national record

Pereira set a number of records in her youth. She holds the U-23 records for the 100 metres (11.80s) and 200 metres (23.99s) and was a member of the teams which set the records for the 4 x 100 metres (46.64s) and 4 x 400 metres (3:44.80) relays; the U-19 records for the 100 metres (11.89s) and 200 metres (23.99s); the U-17 records for the 100 metres (12.21s) and 200 metres (24.92s); and U-15 records for the 100 metres (12.68s).[6]

In 2013, Pereira became the first female Singaporean to run the 100 metres in under 12 seconds when she clocked 11.89s at the 2013 World Youth Championships in Athletics in Donetsk, Ukraine.[2] At the 2013 Southeast Asian Games, she came in fourth in the 100 metres final.[7] In 2014, she became the first female Singaporean to run the 200 metres in under 24 seconds when she clocked 23.99s at the Asian Junior Athletics Championships.[8]

At the 2015 Southeast Asian Games, Pereira won the bronze medal in the 100 metres with a time of 11.88s, Singapore's first medal in the event in 42 years.[9] She also won the gold medal in the 200 metres with a time of 23.60s, rewriting the national record she had set in the day's heats (23.82s);[10] this was Singapore's first gold medal in a sprint event in 42 years.[11] Although the Singapore quartet which she was part of came in fourth in the 4 x 400 metres relay, it broke the oldest record in Singapore's athletics history with a time of 3:40.58.[12] In her final event, the 4 x 100 metres relay, the team came in fourth, but set a new national record of 45.41s.[13] At the 2017 Southeast Asian Games, Pereira won the bronze medal in both the 100 and 200 metres; she repeated this feat at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.[14]

In 2021, Pereira qualified for the 200 metres in the 2020 Summer Olympics through universality places.[15] She finished 6th in her heat with a season-best timing of 23.96s.[16] At the 2021 Southeast Asian Games, Pereira won the gold medal at the 200 metres with a time of 23.52s, rewriting the national record she had set in the 2015 Southeast Asian Games.[17] In the 100 metres, she won the silver medal, clocking 11.62s.[18]

At the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Pereira clocked 11.48s in the 100m heats, breaking her previous record of 11.58s set in 2019.[19] However, her timing of 11.57s in the next round was unable to earn her qualification for the final.[20] In the 200m, she also broke her previous record with a time of 23.46s.[21] She clocked the same time in the semifinal, placing 11th overall among 24 runners.

Pereira set various records in 2023. On 3 March, she clocked 11.46s in the 100m heats of the New Zealand Track and Field Championships to rewrite her national mark.[22] While she ran 11.44s to win the bronze in the final, this was not recognised as a record due to the strong tailwind (3.4m/s).[22] On 25 March, she clocked 23.16s to break her 200m national record after finishing third at the Brisbane Track Class.[23] On 31 March, she rewrote her 100m national record after running 11.38s at the Australia Open; she lowered the mark to 11.37s when she won the final the next day.[4] On 2 April, she ran 22.89s in the 200m at the same meet, rewriting her national mark yet again and becoming the first Singaporean woman to run under 23s.[24] 2023 was also the year Pereira became the first Singaporean to top World Athletics' women's 100m outdoor rankings in Asia.[25]

At the 2023 Southeast Asian Games in Phnom Penh, Pereira successfully defended her 200m title; her time of 22.69s not only rewrote the Singapore record, but the SEA Games record as well.[5]

Education

Pereira studied for a diploma in sports and leisure management offered jointly by Republic Polytechnic and Singapore Sports School.[26] In 2017, she was awarded the Yip Pin Xiu Scholarship to study accountancy at Singapore Management University.[27]

References
  1. "Glasgow 2014 - Veronica shanti Pereira Profile". results.glasgow2014.com.
  2. "28th SEA Games 2015 | Official Results | (Athletics) Biography Overview : PEREIRA Veronica Shanti". Archived from the original on 12 June 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  3. "Veronica Shanti PEREIRA | Profile". www.worldathletics.org.
  4. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/sport/shanti-pereira-breaks-national-record-singapore-sprinter-100m-australia-track-and-field-championships-3390281
  5. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/sport/shanti-pereira-singapore-sea-games-gold-200m-national-record-3472946
  6. "SGAthletics2015" (PDF). 22 June 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 June 2015.
  7. Lum, Nicole. "SEA Games Athletics (Women's 100m): Shanti Pereira powers home for Singapore's first medal since 1973". RED SPORTS.
  8. "Shanti not to be denied". TODAYonline.
  9. "Shanti Pereira bags 100m bronze, Singapore's first in 42 years". sg.news.yahoo.com.
  10. "SEA Games athletics: Singapore's Shanti Pereira wins 200m gold - Channel NewsAsia". Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  11. "Shanti Pereira storms to 200m SEA Games gold, Singapore's first sprint triumph in 42 years". sg.news.yahoo.com.
  12. "SEA Games: Women's 4x400m relay break 41-year-old national record". TODAYonline.
  13. "SEA Games 2015: Relay mark but gold still eludes quartet". AsiaOne. 14 June 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  14. "Athletics: Shanti Pereira claims SEA Games bronze in 200m - CNA". Archived from the original on 21 July 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  15. Abdul Aziz, Sazali (2 July 2021). "Athletics: Sprinter Shanti Pereira bound for the Tokyo Olympics on universality place". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  16. "Athletics - Round 1 - Heat 5 Results". olympics.com. 2 August 2021. Archived from the original on 2 August 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  17. "Shanti Pereira wins 200m gold at SEA Games in new national record". CNA. 14 May 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
  18. Auto, Hermes (18 May 2022). "SEA Games: Silver for Shanti Pereira in women's 100m | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com.
  19. "Shanti Pereira clocks new national record, makes 100m semi-finals at 2022 Commonwealth Games". CNA.
  20. "Commonwealth Games: Singapore's Shanti Pereira fails to qualify for women's 100m final".
  21. "Shanti Pereira sets new national record for 200m, qualifies for semi-finals at 2022 Commonwealth Games".
  22. "Athletics: Shanti Pereira breaks her own 100m national record | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. 3 March 2023.
  23. https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/sprinter-shanti-pereira-sets-new-women-s-200m-national-record-in-brisbane
  24. https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/shanti-pereira-breaks-national-200m-record-with-2289sec-effort
  25. https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/athletics-shanti-pereira-sprints-to-no-1-in-asia-in-women-s-100m-rankings
  26. "Running in the family". AsiaOne. 4 May 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  27. "National Sprinter Shanti Pereira is first recipient of SMU's Yip Pin Xiu Scholarship". www.smu.edu.sg. Retrieved 18 June 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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