It shouldn't have come as a surprise that Shanti Pereira beat us to the Kallang Athletics Stadium on the morning of our scheduled photoshoot. Decked out in a white sports bra and shorts, she's doing dynamic stretches under the baking sun. Shanti gives us a casual hello as she walks by to grab more equipment, but otherwise, she's laser-focused on her routine for the morning.
Halfway through her kettlebell workout, a gaggle of students approach her. It's not difficult to guess what they want. From where we're sitting, Shanti looks surprised but happily gives her young fans her autograph. This happens often, we hear.
The scene is a fitting microcosm of Shanti's life now, balancing her commitment to track and her renewed fame. As a sportsperson, she'd had her fair share of the limelight, but her 2023 season has been nothing short of amazing. There was no running away from Shanti Pereira this year – open the newspaper and you'd see a headline about her beating her own national record again (at least six times for the 100m race alone) or clinching one historic win or other. The pinnacle of her achievements this year? The 200m sprint gold at the 19th Asian Games, the first time a Singaporean has won gold in track and field at the competition in 49 years.
Crossing the line knowing that my coach and I had achieved the goal we set out for, it just felt like a huge sense of accomplishment. Pride.
As she gets her makeup done for the shoot, Shanti recalls the moment she crossed the finish line at what she calls the biggest race of her life. "The second I crossed the line, I was really like, I'm done!" she says with a laugh. "Because it's really been an incredible year, and very long also, with a lot of major competitions that I had to train for. And Asian Games was the end of that crazy long season. Crossing the line knowing that my coach and I had achieved the goal we set out for, it just felt like a huge sense of accomplishment. Pride."
Finding her stride
And what a crazy season it's been. Shanti's star may have risen in seconds on the track – 23.03s to the 200m gold to be exact – but the road there reads like a marathon. In 2023, she stepped into a whirlwind of competitions: the New Zealand Track and Field Championships, the Australian Open, the 2023 SEA Games, the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships, the Mittsommernacht Athletics Meet, the Folksam Grand Prix, the 2023 World Athletics Championships, and finally, the 19th Asian Games. Did we miss any?
For Shanti, the rigorous pace of training and competing was far from normal. "I don't usually have four big competitions to train for, so a lot of planning had to go into it. That's where my coach came in, to see what worked best, try new things, and peak at each of the competitions. And that included a new experience to compete a lot in Europe, which I'd never really done before."
I think all the previous successes built a lot of confidence leading up to the Asian Games. Right before, I was in a space where it was tunnel vision, almost?
The massive change in strategy was, for Shanti, necessary. Just last year, the sprinter was – in her own words – still struggling to perform in races. She might have been thinking of the 2022 Commonwealth Games, where she fell short of qualifying for the 100m finals even though she'd broken her own record in the heats. In the 200m event, she placed 11th among 24 runners. Not a shoddy showing by any means, but not up to her expectations. "My coach just knew something had to change. And in the lead-up to these major competitions, racing is also a form of training. You can do something so perfectly in training but it might just go out of the window when you're competing."
By the time she was at the 19th Asian Games, Shanti had a string of historic wins to her name, including a double gold at the Asian Athletics Championships and a semi-final qualifier at the World Athletics Championship (a first for any Singaporean). She was locked in. "I think all the previous successes built a lot of confidence leading up to the Asian Games. Right before, I was in a space where it was tunnel vision, almost? All I did was train and recover, train and recover."
"And eat and sleep, of course," she adds with a laugh. "I think that really helped me zone in and get ready for the biggest race of my life."
A winning mindset
At the cover shoot, Shanti is asked to hold various awkward poses, run back and forth (in shoes not made for running, she notes), and make several athletic jumps in the unforgiving noonday sun. She handles it all like a pro. Photoshoots are part and parcel of her life now, with everyone eager to get a piece of Singapore's golden girl and sprint queen.
"A lot of people, especially those that have followed my journey since 2015, they really want to hear my story and what I have to say," says Shanti. "A lot of people recognise me now. They just feel this huge sense of pride, like, I ran for Singapore. Especially if they know my story, they're like 'thank you'. And they say thank you a lot."
You achieve something great, there's going to be a lot more attention on you. I guess that's where pressure can build on you, and it can make or break a person.
For Shanti, that recognition is a blessing. "I'm just thankful that I get new platforms to talk about my experiences in track. I think a lot of people draw parallels with track and other things – company values and personal stories. Just a chance to share my story and somehow inspire people in my own way, I think that's a true privilege."
Her new outlook is a sea-change from before. After her 2015 SEA Games success, the media scrutiny and public attention were things she struggled to manage. "I didn't know how to handle the pressure," says Shanti. "I didn't understand the whole concept of being a high-performance athlete."
She's a lot better at dealing with the noise now. "I block it out by accepting that it's there. It's just life. You achieve something great, there's going to be a lot more attention on you. I guess that's where pressure can build on you, and it can make or break a person."
Gunning for the big one
Well, Shanti shows no sign of breaking, instead exuding a calm confidence befitting of the title 'sprint queen'. She attributes her new mentality to her coach, saying, "Being an athlete isn't just showing up to track and training. It's a 24/7 thing, so everything I do throughout the day, every decision that I make, is to benefit me as an athlete...Do I want to make it to a certain level? If I do, I have to put my sport as a priority."
True to her word, Shanti's back to the grind. She took some time off in the afterglow of the Asian Games, going on a holiday, spending time with friends and family, café hopping, and eating all her favourite Singaporean food (just for a week, though). But now she's back to training twice a day, with a supplementary session in the morning and the main session in the afternoon.
Do I want to make it to a certain level? If I do, I have to put my sport as a priority.
After all, she has big dreams. Shanti has qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics, the first time a Singaporean has done so in the 200m event. It's also her first time making it to the Olympics by standard. Previously, she'd entered the 2021 Olympics as a wild card.
Shanti is barely fazed when reminded that the competition is barely seven months away. "I'm excited! It's another new experience. My coach and I made a plan. We said, we're going to do whatever we possibly can to achieve our goals."
An exciting road ahead
We pause for a bit of reflection. Shanti was just nine years old when she saw her older sister compete in a race and felt inspired to take up the sport herself. A year later, she lost at a school competition and almost gave up the sport. "My dad was like, you need to learn how to fail. This is going to happen not just now, but next time too. I was like [mimics sobbing] ok, I'll stick to track then."
What would she say to her younger self? Shanti announces, "Good call!"
A good call indeed. And Shanti Pereira is not done – not for a long time, if she has anything to do with it. "I just want to make use of this incredible gift I've been given...I just want to take it as far as possible. I used to think sport had a pretty short lifespan," she says. "Now, it's like, no. I still have a long road ahead. And that's exciting."
