Story by Nicole Lum/Red Sports. Photos by Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports

SEA Games Athletics

Veronica Shanti Pereira of Singapore (#212) celebrates after winning the women’s 200m final. (Photo 1 © Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports)

Singapore Indoor Stadium, Wednesday, June 10, 2015 — Singapore’s golden girl Shanti Pereira pulled off a sensational win as she dominated the women’s 200m final at the 28th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

Her time of 23.60 seconds smashed the national record of 23.80 seconds, of which she set earlier in the heats. Her finish is also a new personal best (PB).

Shanti’s win gives Singapore her first women’s 200m medal in 42 years. The last Singaporean to medal in this event was Glory Barnabas in 1973, when she won the gold at the SEAP Games in a time of 25.6s.

“I feel amazing! I’m so happy and I didn’t even know I was going to win. I can’t even describe how I feel right now,” exclaimed an elated Shanti minutes after her race.

“My goal was a medal because I knew who I was racing against,” she added, “I had a better chance in the 200m than the 100m so I really just expected a medal for myself but I definitely did not expect the gold.”

Shanti’s strategy was simple. “My game plan was just to have a really good start, not go so fast on the first curve and try to keep up with the person next to me. Then hopefully it would give me more energy at the end,” she explained.

“I was just trying to catch whoever was in front of me…just trying to chase them down. I was a bit scared as the Malaysian girl seemed to be getting ahead of me by a bit (at the bend) so I ran harder and it really worked,” she added.

Finishing behind Shanti in 23.71s was this year’s 100m gold medallist, Kayla Anise Richardson of the Philippines. Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Oanh, who clocked a time of 23.92s, completed the podium.

Shanti first broke the national record of 23.99s when she posted a timing of 23.82s in the heats. She then repeated the feat in the final, this time smashing her own record again by another 0.2s. The 18-year-old remains the only Singaporean woman to go under 24 seconds in the 200m.

On her double record performance, Shanti said: “I knew that in the heats, I did slow down a little bit so I was hoping that I would do even better in the final.”

The sprinter took home the bronze medal in the Women’s 100m the day before. “It was the reason why I felt a lot more confident today,” she remarked.

Shanti’s compatriot, Kugapriya Chandran, placed eighth with 25.21s, and missed out on setting another PB after her 24.94s run in the morning.

The Games record for the Women’s 200m stands at 23.30s. It was set by Khawpeag Supavadee of Thailand in 2001.

Women’s 200m Results
1st Pereira Veronica Shanti (SIN) – 23.60s (PB)
2nd Richardson Kayla Anise (PHI) – 23.71s
3rd Nguyen Thi Oanh (VIE) – 23.92s (PB)
4th Quach Thi Lan (VIE) – 23.98s (PB)
5th Wannakit Tassaporn (THA) – 23.99s (PB)
6th Zulkifli Zaidatul Husniah (MAS) – 24.18s
7th Utami Tri (INA) – 24.39s (SB)
8th Chandran Kugapriya (SIN) – 25.21s

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