Still Asia’s Sprint Queen: Repeat win in 100meter for Shanti Pereira at SEA Games in Thailand

SINGAPORE: Veronica Shanti Pereira, widely known as “Asia’s Sprint Queen,” has struck gold again, winning the women’s 100m at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Bangkok.

The 29-year-old Singaporean, who claimed double sprint gold (100m and 200m) at the 2023 Cambodia SEA Games—the first Singaporean woman to do so—added another title on Thursday night (Dec 11).

After clocking 11.46 seconds in the heats at Suphachalasai National Stadium, Shanti dominated the final with 11.36 seconds to retain her regional crown.

Earlier this year, she also secured 100m silver at the Asian Athletics Championships.

Next up for the Sprint Queen are the 200m heat at 5:00 p.m. and final at 7:15 p.m. on Saturday (Dec 13). The 4x100m final is scheduled for Monday (Dec 15) at 5:00 p.m. These events are in Thailand time, which is an hour later than Singapore.

Thursday’s victory must taste especially sweet for Shanti, who battled injury in the lead-up to last year’s Paris Olympics.

On April 15, 2024, Singapore Athletics (SA) announced she would miss two upcoming meets due to a leg injury. Shanti had been training in Florida for the 2024 season, with the Paris Olympics as the main highlight. However, because of the recent injury, SA stated that her preparations had to be completely reorganised.

“Her coach, Luis (Cunha), and her will be working with SA and the Singapore Sport Institute (SSI) to ensure that she receives all the support required to aid in her recovery. SA will also work closely with Luis to re-organise her training preparations towards Paris 2024 in the coming weeks,” SA said at the time.

Mr Cunha was quoted as saying at the time that the injury was a common one. Shanti, however, did not place at the Olympics or at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo earlier this year.

Going into this year’s SEA Games, she was in fine form and had renewed focus, as evidenced by her win in the 100-meter event.

Last year, Shanti got engaged to her longtime beau, Tan Zong Yang, who is also a runner, and now, a lawyer. Like many of her generation, she announced this over Instagram, writing, “9/6/2024, in Stockholm. Cheers to your 30th, three years together, and the rest of our lives!!!! /TISG

Read also: S’pore sprint queen Shanti Pereira won silver in the 100-meter race at the Asian Athletics Championships