Shanti Pereira won the 200m gold at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games. Photo: SpexSG/Jeremy Lee
Shanti Pereira woke up on the morning of the Asian Games women’s 200m final exhausted from having already done three races, and not feeling her best. Still, she knew she would win.
And she was right.
The girl who was once “scared of everything” – competitors, pressure – has since learnt to embrace the weight of expectation, and has worn it so well that she is now the first woman to win back-to-back Asian Games titles in the 200m event.
“Coming into today, I knew it was my day. Nothing or no one was going to stop me from getting it,” said Pereira, who took gold in a season-best 22.78sec at the Paloma Mizuho Stadium on 27 Sep.
“I worked so hard for this; I really believed. I’m so exhausted from all my races and I haven’t been sleeping very well, probably from anxiety and just nerves. But I knew that the mind is just such a powerful thing, and if I believed it and just let my body flow, I could bring it back home to Singapore.”
It is her second medal at these Games, after taking silver in the 100m earlier this week.
China’s Chen Yujie, who outsprinted Pereira for the 100m gold, was second in 22.93s ahead of Harita Bhadra of India (23.20s).
Pereira recorded another season best that same evening when she returned for the 4x100m relay heats with Amanda Loo, Elizabeth-Ann Tan and Kerstin Ong – the quartet posted 45.12s to finish fourth in their heat and rank ninth overall. There was a season best for the men’s 4x100m relay team as well, with Ian Gan, Xander Ho, Mark Lee, Tate Tan clocking 39.34s to qualify for the final.
Other Singaporeans in action on 27 Sep were hurdler Ang Chen Xiang and high jumper Kampton Kam, who were seventh and eighth in their respective finals. Thiruben Thana Rajan was sixth in his 800m heat and 19th overall.
Pereira, competing in her fourth Asian Games here, had qualified fastest in the 200m heats on 26 Sep with her time of 23.10s. Entering the Asiad, she also held the fastest 200m time in Asia with her season-best 22.78s effort at the Oman Athletics Grand Prix earlier this month. The event was one of the three meets she competed in after the Commonwealth Games, where she had clocked season bests in the 100m and 200m and became the first Singaporean to reach a final in the latter event.
This stretch of racing, said Pereira, was the reason she could achieve a mental flow state on the morning of the 200m final at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Games.
“It felt strange, because like I said, I was exhausted. (For example), maybe I hopped out of bed and I felt a tightness in my hamstring, or something like that. I was just like, ‘Nah, it’s okay. It’s fine.’ And I just made it to a point where it’s not that serious,” she explained.
“My mind is strong enough to overcome this, and this just didn’t occur now. It took probably the whole season to be able to come to this point. To do back-to-back races throughout the season, to do competition blocks and constantly race and race and race. It prepares me for things like this, for all the rounds that I have to do. And now, the constant is belief.”
The 30-year-old said of her history-making feat: “So many things can happen in the span of four years; every Games it’s like a whole new group of people and whole new set of conditions. With how track is going right now and everyone just keeps getting better and better, defending champions have that stress on them. But ultimately, it’s a whole new Games and a whole new pool of people that are fighting to do the same thing.”
Pereira and Hangzhou 2022 bronze medallist Edidiong Odiong were the only two finalists who had also raced in the 200m final at the previous Asian Games. The Singaporean revealed that she took inspiration from compatriot Gan Ching Hwee, who won three swimming silvers at these Games.
Quoting the swimmer, Pereira added: “If you have a lane, you have a chance. I kept replaying that in my head. Here at these Games, so many defending champions didn’t even have the chance to try and defend their title, but here I am with that chance.
“I had a solid lane … I was healthy. I might be so tired from my races but I’m good; I let my mind take over. Ultimately, I’m okay and I have the chance to fight. That’s really all that I focused on, and brought it back home.”
Pereira reckons her younger self would have “freaked out” knowing that she had reached this stage.
“She wouldn’t even believe the kind of person she grew into. She used to be so scared of everything, like of her competitors, and I really let the pressure get to me last time,” she said.
“I’m very proud of the person I have become and it took a lot to get here. It took a lot of help from so many people – my family and friends, and my coach.”
She was effusive in expressing gratitude for the support given by her family, coach Luis Cunha and fiancé Tan Zong Yang, revealing that the latter, a former national runner, had been training with her as well.
Shanti Pereira crossed the finish line first in a season-best 22.78s to retain her Asian Games crown in the 200m event on 27 Sep. Photo: SNOC/Terence Tan
“My coach, we both knew: Belief over everything,” added Pereira, the four-time SEA Games champion in this event. “I’m just so happy, I wanted to scream. I just felt so much; I was so excited and so nervous, but I just had to let all of that go and just really give my absolute all just to win this thing.
“And my first thought was, ‘Yeah, I just did that.’ And I knew nothing was going to stop me. I did it.”
The 20th Asian Games are held in Japan from 19 September to 4 October 2026. For the latest Team Singapore coverage and news, follow Team Singapore on their social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok) or visit the official Team Singapore website.