Paris Olympics: Shanti Pereira misses out on 200m semi-finals after finishing last in repechage heat

PARIS - Singapore sprint queen Shanti Pereira's campaign at the Paris Olympics ended on Aug 5, when she clocked 23.45 seconds in the women's 200m repechage heat at the Stade de France to miss out on the semi-finals.

Running in Lane 3 in the first heat against six other competitors, she finished last and did not advance. She eventually placed 18th out of the field of 24.

The repechage is a new Olympic format introduced by World Athletics for athletes who did not qualify directly for the semi-finals through the heats in the 100m/110m hurdles, 200m, 400m, 400m hurdles, 800m and 1,500m.

Winners of the four repechage heats and the next two fastest qualify for the semi-finals, which will be held later in the day.

Pereira, 27, progressed to the 200m repechage after clocking 23.21 seconds in Round 1 to come in last in Heat 5 - and 31st out of 45 runners - on Aug 4.

It has been a difficult second Olympic outing for the Singaporean, who won titles at the Asian championships and Asian Games in 2023, but suffered a stress injury to the fibula in her right leg in April.

On Aug 2, she also did not progress to the semi-finals of the 100m event, as her 11.63 placed her 55th out of 72 runners.

Pereira made her Olympic debut in Tokyo 2020 when she competed on a universality invite, finishing sixth in her 200m heat with a season-best 23.96sec for 39th out of 41 overall.

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