After ‘really tough season’, Singapore sprint queen Shanti Pereira excited to be home, and to ‘start fresh’

SINGAPORE: After a tough season which saw her battle injury and deal with a difficult Olympics campaign, Singapore’s sprint queen Shanti Pereira is looking forward to home comforts.
Speaking to reporters after arriving at Changi Airport on Thursday (Sep 5), the 27-year-old said she was excited to “decompress”, “chill” and spend time with her loved ones.
“I’ve missed Singapore so much, I don’t think I’ve missed home this much (before),” she said.
“I think because it was also a really tough season.”
The sprinter, who was in good spirits after a 12 hour flight from Copenhagen, said she would be taking the rest of the month off before resuming training.
The last two years have been a whirlwind for Pereira.
At the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, she won the 200m final – Singapore’s first athletics gold medal since 1974. Days before that, Pereira ended Singapore’s nearly 50-year wait for an Asiad track and field medal, after she took a silver in the 100m.
At the start of 2024, she spent two months training in Florida. But a stress injury in her fibula would result in her missing her debut in the Diamond League competition in Xiamen and Shanghai, as well as two major meets in Japan among other competitions.
It would also set her back on preparations for the Paris Olympics. 
In her second Games campaign, Pereira did not make it past the 100m and 200m heats.
In the 200m, she clocked a time of 23.21s in the heats before timing 23.45s in the repechage heats. Her national record stands at 22.57s.
In the 100m, she clocked 11.63s, and finished 55th out of 72 athletes overall. Her national record stands at 11.20s.
“I really wish this season turned out differently, but there’s nothing I can really do about it now, except learn from it and also accept that it’s a part of every athletes’ journey … Knowing that and still knowing what I put on the table, I’m really satisfied with myself. Now I’m just excited to start fresh.”
She added there remained positives to take away.
“Looking back reflecting, I think I put up a pretty good season, regardless of all the difficulties I had to go through,” said Pereira.
“My coach and I discussed … this is really my second best season ever in terms of the timings that I produced, and I still came up with times that were around the top in Asia.”
At the same time, Pereira is cognisant that she is now at a “whole new level” than she was in the past.
“I have last year to thank for that. Incredibly blessed to say that I’m in that kind of position,” she said.
“It has its pressure points for sure, but all in all … Going into every competition knowing that you want to increase your level and you’re at a different level now. It’s just a whole thing you have to learn how to process it and deal with every time you show up for a big meet, small meet, whatever it is.”
Being able to compete healthy in Paris was also something Pereira is grateful for.
“I got my spot there, I managed to still show up healthy and compete and really give my all when, a lot of people didn’t really get the chance to do that,” she said.
“I was just really thankful that I got to be there, and soak it all in. And it was my second Olympics, so something to add to my list, which is great.”
After her Olympics campaign, Pereira also competed in meets in Finland and Denmark with the goal of bettering her previous season’s best.
“My season started late so that’s part of the reason why I wanted to keep it going,” she said. “(It was) also to just see what I have in the tank from all the training that I’ve done.”
But wind conditions weren’t ideal and she could have done “a lot” better, said Pereira. “That’s just sport, that’s just how we have to deal with things,” she added.
Looking ahead, 2025 will be a “pretty big year” for the sprinter.
She will compete in the Asian Athletics Championships where she is the defending champion in the 100m and 200m events, and also seek to defend both her titles at the year-end SEA Games in Bangkok.
Pereira also hopes to qualify for the World Championships in Tokyo next year.
“I’m pretty excited,” she said. “Now that (we’ve) kind of concluded this season, coach (Luis Cunha) and I already kind of identified what we need to work on … Now it’s time to reset, refocus, and focus on this new season with a lot more exciting things that are to come.”