Pereira Makes History

No sprint double but she sets unique Asian C'ships milestone with 200m silver

- Melvyn Teoh

Singapore's sprint queen Shanti Pereira added yet another feather to her cap, clinching her second silver at the Asian Athletics Championships on May 31.

Despite failing to retain both her 100m and 200m titles, coach Luis Cunha hailed Pereira's "groundbreaking achievements" after she became the first sprinter to win two medals in back-to-back editions of the meet.

Cunha said: "Her feat of earning two individual medals (sprint) in the Asian championships was unprecedented for Singapore. This is a truly remarkable milestone for Singaporean sports and athletics in Asia."

At the Gumi Civic Stadium in South Korea, the 28-year-old clocked a season-best time of 22.98sec, just 0.01sec behind gold medallist Chen Yujie (22.97) and ahead of Li Yuting (23.23), both of China.

Defending champion Pereira had qualified second-quickest in the field of 20 after clocking 23.59sec. Japan's Remi Tsuruta topped the heats with 23.37, while Chen (23.60) was third.

Pereira, who won a 100m and 200m double in the 2023 edition in Thailand, had also settled for silver in the 100m final on May 28 after clocking 11.41sec, losing out to China's Liang Xiaojing by just 0.04sec.

While Pereira did not respond to a request for comment by press time, Cunha preferred to look on the bright side, despite his charge missing out on a gold medal this time.