Singapore's Veronica Shanti Pereira Creates History With Gold In Women's 200m At Asian Games 2023

Singapore 's Shanti Pereira made history at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, ending her country's 49-year wait for an athletics gold medal. Pereira clinched the women's 200m final gold on Monday, just two days after securing a silver medal in the 100m event.

This achievement broke Singapore's long medal drought in athletics. The last time Singapore had seen success in this sport was in 1974 when Chee Swee Lee won gold in the women's 400m and bronze in the 4x100m relay at Tehran.

Pereira's silver medal on Saturday had already put an end to the barren medal streak, and now she has taken Singapore back to the top of the podium. This marks only the third time Singapore has produced an Asian Games champion in track and field.

The favourite and the fastest qualifier, Pereira, took the lead from the very start of the race. Her biggest competition, Bahrain's Salwa Eid Naser, the 2019 400m world champion, was disqualified for a false start. Pereira held a small lead as she came around the bend and then pulled away on the straight to secure victory in 23.03, despite facing a slight headwind.

The home crowd had reason to cheer as well, with Li Yuting of China crossing the finish line in second place with a time of 23.28, earning her a silver medal. Naser's teammate and the defending champion, Edidiong Odiong , claimed the bronze medal.

Shanti Pereira's triumph makes her Singapore's first women's sprint champion at the Asian Games. Her incredible success in 2023 includes breaking her own 100m national record six times and winning double sprint gold at the SEA Games and Asian Championships.

In Pereira's own words, "I knew I crossed the line first, and I was like 'oh my God.' What a season, what a season. I just saw the finish line, I knew I won. It’s been so crazy. It means a lot to me. I can’t really describe this. It’s been incredible. Before the race, I said I’m going to give it everything I've got because it’s my last race of the season – I’m going to make it count."