Singaporean sprinter Shanti Pereira secures 200m gold in thrilling victory over European champion at Berlin Meet

SINGAPORE: Sprint queen Shanti Pereira has been creating history this year. She recently claimed gold in the 200m at the prestigious Mittsommernacht Athletics meet in Charlottenburg, Berlin, on Sunday (30 Jul) with an impressive timing of 23.32 seconds.

In an electrifying race, the 26-year-old Pereira outperformed Gina Luckenkemper from Germany, the reigning European 100m and 4x100m relay champion, beating her by a remarkable 0.09 seconds.

A video, uploaded by SG Sports, captured the unforgettable moment when Ms Pereira achieved yet another milestone at the Mittsommernacht Athletics meet in Berlin on Sunday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLnHOlKSIXY&t=219s

Earlier in July, Ms Pereira secured gold in both the 100m and 200m events at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok.

She even rewrote her national 100m record for the sixth time this year, clocking an astonishing 11.20 seconds, and claimed victory in the 200m event while establishing a new meet record of 22.70 seconds.

Notably, Pereira’s exceptional performances have also brought an end to Singapore’s 16-year medal drought at the regional meet.

In May, she became the first Singaporean woman to triumph in both the 100m and 200m events in a single edition of the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

Throughout this year, she has broken the national 200m record three times, with her most remarkable effort being 22.69 seconds at the SEA Games in Cambodia, which also stands as a meet record.

The Straits Times reported that Singapore Athletics president Lien Choong Luen expressed delight with Pereira’s outstanding form and highlighted that she is “inspiring a new generation” of South-east Asian athletes with her recent results.

Looking ahead, Pereira’s upcoming challenges include competing in the Folksam Grand Prix in Malmo, Sweden, on 5 Aug, followed by Copenhagen on 9 Aug, before participating in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest on 19 Aug.

Afterward, she will travel to Hangzhou, China for the 23 Sept- 8 Oct Asian Games, where she currently holds the fastest times in both the 100m (11.20sec) and 200m (22.69sec) among Asian female sprinters this season.

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