LIFE IN THE FAST LANE

Shanti Pereira may be Singapore’s sprint queen, racing to the finish line in mere seconds, but her life has not always been smooth sailing off the track. We talk to the nation’s fastest woman.

- Azlinda Said

National sprinter Shanti Pereira – this year's SEA Games gold medallist in the women's 200m final – got her first taste of track and field when she was in Primary 3 as a spectator watching her older sister compete in a race. That spurred her on to follow in her sister’s footsteps. She took part in her school’s 100m and 400m races and won, catching the attention of the school’s track and field coach, who then asked her to join his training sessions. The rest, as they say, is history.

Almost two decades later, the now 25-year-old has notched several more wins under her belt. At the 2015 SEA Games, Shanti snagged the bronze medal in the 100m and gold in the 200m races – Singapore’s first medals in the sporting event in 42 years. She also rewrote her own national record for the 200m event, finishing the race in 23.6 seconds, some 0.2 seconds faster than the time she had set in the day’s heats. Her most recent achievement was at this year’s SEA Games in Hanoi, Vietnam, where she not only bagged a gold medal in the women’s 200m final, but also set a new national record of 23.52 seconds in the process.

“That was my proudest moment, because it came after years of ups and downs, a lot more downs than ups actually. It took so much out of me to prepare mentally for my race. But it was a very important moment because I finally broke free of what was holding me back. I wasn’t afraid of approaching the start line. I felt good. That’s why I was so emotional after my race, because it was very cathartic to just let go and win,” Shanti reminisces.

A FORK IN THE ROAD