First Singaporean woman to go under 23s in 200m race: Shanti Pereira breaks national record

SINGAPORE – National sprinter Shanti Pereira is getting quicker and quicker and the national records keep tumbling.

On Sunday, the 26-year-old clocked 22.89 seconds to set her latest national record en route to winning her 200m heat at the Australian Open Track and Field Championships in Brisbane.

It eclipsed her previous best – that came on March 25 at the Brisbane Track Classic – by 0.27sec.

Pereira, who is the first Singaporean woman to go under 23sec in the 200m, covered her mouth with her hands to contain her surprise at her timing after the race. She will compete in the final on Sunday afternoon.

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It has been a jubilant weekend for Pereira. On Saturday, she bettered her own national record in the women’s 100m final with a time of 11.37 seconds to win the event and lower her record – set in the heats on Friday – by 0.01sec.

But her immediate goal of the year will be to claim a double gold at the May 5-17 Cambodia Games before tougher tests await at the July 12-16 Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok and the Hangzhou Asian Games from Sept 23 to Oct 8.

At the Hanoi SEA Games in May 2022, Pereira won gold in the 200m event, capturing her second SEA Games title seven years after her first. She also clinched a silver in the 100m.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.