Singapore’s women’s 4×100-m relay team breaks national record at Asian Championships

SOUTH KOREA: As the baton crossed the finish line at the Gumi Sports Complex, the Singapore women’s 4×100-m relay team looked up at the scoreboard. The time read 44.66 seconds, a new national record. It wasn’t enough for a medal at the Asian Athletics Championships, but it was enough to rewrite history.

The team of Shannon Tan, Elizabeth-Ann Tan, Shanti Pereira, and Laavinia Jaiganth finished fifth overall, behind Asia’s sprint powerhouses, but in the context of Singapore athletics, it marked a major breakthrough.

The previous record of 44.96 seconds, set at the 2017 SEA Games, had stood for nearly eight years. That timing had only just been matched a month earlier at the Singapore Open, on home soil and with a different lead-off runner.

This time, the first athlete out of the blocks was Shannon Tan, a Secondary 4 student from Cedar Girls’ School. Making her debut for the national team at just 16, she became the youngest sprinter in recent memory to front a senior relay squad at a continental meet.

She passed the baton cleanly to Elizabeth-Ann Tan, one of Singapore’s two fastest female sprinters. Shanti Pereira, the other, ran the curve on the third leg. Having just returned from overseas competitions, she delivered one of the race’s strongest splits, powering through the second bend to position the team well going into the final changeover.

Laavinia Jaiganth, the national U20 400-m record holder, anchored the team. She held her ground in a stacked field to bring Singapore home in record time.

Also travelling with the relay squad were Kerstin Ong and Sarah Poh, who had been part of the pool preparing for the event.

Behind the scenes, the effort was supported by relay coaches Hamkah Afik, Khairyll Amri, Melvin Tan, and Remy Gan. Their respective personal coaches also train each of the four runners: Margaret Oh (Shannon), Hamkah and Khairyll (Elizabeth-Ann), Luis Cunha (Shanti), and Fabian William (Laavinia).

The new national time of 44.66 s would have won medals at 30 out of 31 SEA Games editions where the women’s 4×100 m relay was contested. Still, more than just the numbers, the race reflected a shift: the blend of experience and emerging talent, and a baton literally and figuratively being passed from one generation to the next.

As the athletes left the track in Gumi, the message was clear — the standard has been raised.