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PARIS: Hers is a story of peaks and valleys and while her second Olympics campaign did not go anywhere near the way Shanti Pereira wanted, she has vowed to come back stronger – with possibly one more Olympics campaign.
Pereira exited the Paris Olympics on Monday (Aug 5) after she finished last in her 200m repechage heat. At the Stade de France, Singapore’s sprint queen clocked a time of 23.45s in heat 1.
There were four repechage heats on Monday, with six slots up for grabs.
Only the athletes who topped each heat qualified for the semi-finals, as well as the next two with the fastest times across all four heats.
The repechage round is part of a new format for certain events. It replaces the old system where athletes with the fastest remaining times go through.
“It sucks, the whole campaign hasn’t been what I wanted it to be like,” Pereira told reporters.
“Especially after qualifying for it (the 200m) last year, I was looking forward to a lot better results here, a semi-finals spot at least … I’m sad, I’m heartbroken.”
Pereira’s personal best and national record stands at 22.57s, while her season’s best is 23.17s.
This marks the end of a difficult meet for the Asian Games 200m gold medallist who had her Olympics preparation cruelly curtailed by a stress injury in her fibula.
But the Singaporean said that she’s learnt from going through tough times throughout her life and added that she will be eyeing one more shot at the Olympics.
“That (Los Angeles 2028) is the goal,” said Pereira.
“Just going to take this as a learning point. This is a part of my journey, it’s normal for a lot of people to be going through injuries … I know for a fact it’s going to make me stronger.”
On Sunday, Pereira missed out on automatic qualification in the same event after finishing last out of eight athletes in her heat with a time of 23.21s.
She was 31st out of 45 competitors.
Earlier in the Games, Pereira failed to advance to the 100m semi-finals, finishing 55th out of 72 athletes overall. Her time of 11.63s saw her place 7th out of nine runners in her heat. Her national record stands at 11.20s.
Last year was a career-defining one for Pereira.
At the Hangzhou Asian Games, she won the women’s 200m final – Singapore’s first athletics gold medal since 1974.
Days before that, Pereira ended Singapore’s nearly 50-year wait for a track and field medal at the Asian Games, after she won a silver in the 100m.
Pereira notched a sprint double at the Asian Athletics Championships in July and also became the first Singaporean woman to win both the 100m and 200m events at the SEA Games in May.
But the Singaporean has had to deal with self-doubt, critics and pressure over the years, challenges which she has candidly discussed in the past.
“There are a lot of things I’ve learnt from the past, especially when it comes to pressure from external sources. I can safely say I’m not affected by it which is a huge plus,” said Pereira.
“What I’m feeling pressure from is myself, wanting to be at the same level as (I have been). I think I’m allowed to be hard on myself; that’s just how athletes are.”
But ultimately, Pereira knows that she can bounce back.
“I’ve learnt that I can bounce back from hard things,” she explained. “It’s really just how I take control of the situation and bring my best self to the other side.”
Catch the widest coverage of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on mewatch. Go to www.mewatch.sg/paris2024 for more details.
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