Pereira At 'A New Stage'

Sprinter qualifies for second consecutive World Athletics Championships on merit

- Deepanraj Ganesan

It has been a standout season for Singapore's track and field athletes, with individual national records tumbling across multiple events. Calvin Quek (men's 400m hurdles), Shaun Goh and Vanessa Lee (men's and women's 10,000m), Ang Chen Xiang (men's 110m hurdles), Kerstin Ong (women's 100m hurdles), Marc Louis (men's 200m), Thiruben Thana Rajan (men's 800m) and Kampton Kam (men's high jump) have etched their names in the record books in 2023.

Sprint queen Shanti Pereira may be missing from that list, but the 28-year-old continues to blaze a trail for Singapore athletics. While she did not notch individual marks, she won two silvers at the Asian Championships in May and bettered the women's 4x100m relay record with Elizabeth-Ann Tan, Shannon Tan and Laavinia Jaiganth.

Her 200m season's best of 22.81sec - clocked in May in Japan - puts her in the top 100 in the world rankings and third fastest in Asia.

She will compete at the Sept 13-21 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo after qualifying for her second consecutive appearance at the sport's most prestigious meet.

She will be in action in the 200m heats on Sept 17, while Singapore's other representative Quek - who was awarded the universality slot - will race in the 400m hurdles heats on Sept 15.

Calling it "a new stage" in her track career, Pereira told The Sunday Times that qualifying for the world championships via her world ranking was surreal.

She said: "Maybe because of all my success two years ago, it (qualifying on merit) might not mean as much to some people, but it means a great deal to me. It shows I've reached a new stage in my career, training to qualify for world-level competitions and actually securing that spot.