Silver medalist Shanti Pereira of Singapore celebrates after the women’s 100m athletics final during the Asian Games in Hangzhou, east China’s Zhejiang province, September 30, 2023. AFP Photo/Manan Vatsyayana
Shanti Pereira won the first Asian Games athletics medal since 1974 for Singapore after finishing second in the 100m, marking a decorated year for the sprinter.
Pereira, 27, finished her race on Saturday in 11.27 seconds, just 0.04 seconds behind gold medalist Ge Manqi of China, while Bahrain’s Hajar Alkhaldi took bronze.
“I faced very tough competition. I had to give my 150,000% today, and I’m really happy I did it,” Pereira said after the race, as quoted by Strait Times.
Shanti led most of the race, before Ge passed her in the final meters, Olympics.com said, adding that the Singaporean seemed disappointed to miss out on the gold medal as she watched a replay of the race on the big screen.
Ge topped the heats in 11.17 seconds, 0.03 faster than Pereira’s national record.
Earlier in July, Pereira won the 100m and 200m events at the Asian Athletics Championships (AAC), while Ge finished third.
It has been a stellar year so far for Pereira as she won two gold medals at the AAC, two gold medals at the SEA Games and a silver at the Asian Games.
In August, at the World Athletics Championships, she became the first athlete from Singapore to reach the semi-finals, clocking 22.57 seconds and crossing the Olympic qualification threshold.
On Monday, Pereira will compete in the 200m final.