SEA Games: Shanti Pereira in tears after finishing third in 200m race
REPORTING FROM KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
Singapore sprinter Shanti Pereira settled for third place in her pet event, the women’s 200m race, at Bukit Jalil National Stadium on Wednesday (23 August) night.
The 20-year-old clocked 23.68 seconds, finishing behind Vietnam’s Le Tu Chinh, who took gold in 23.32s, and Malaysia’s Husniah Zulkifli, who took silver in 23.64s.
Pereira was in tears after the race and did not address the media.
Coach Margaret Oh said her protege had put a lot of pressure on herself, saying that the latter had gone a bit too fast at the start and “died” by the end.
“In training she was better than what she did in 2015… It was the pressure of defending the title… she wants to prove to people that she can do it,” said Oh.
“I told her she already did her best and to just move on. Aim for the next race and don’t think too much about it,” added Oh.
Pereira’s historic victory in 2015 ended Singapore’s 42-year drought for gold in a sprint event at the SEA Games. On Tuesday, she won bronze in the women’s 100m race with a time of 11.76s, which was also a new national record.
Follow Yahoo News Singapore’s SEA Games coverage here