I love the pressure now: Shanti Pereira wins 100m silver at the Asian Games

Shanti Pereira clinched an Asian Games silver in the women’s 100m after clocking a season’s best 11.21sec in the final on Sept 25.

ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG

Published Sep 25, 2026, 06:14 PM

Updated Sep 25, 2026, 11:49 PM

Shanti Pereira won her second consecutive 100m silver at the Asian Games with a season-best 11.21sec, embracing the pressure and valuing her journey in athletics.

She is the fourth Singaporean to win multiple athletics medals at the Games, following legends like C. Kunalan and Glory Barnabas.

The men’s 100m saw Thai sprinter Puripol Boonson break the Games record twice, becoming the first Southeast Asian winner since 1982 with a 9.90sec gold medal run.

NAGOYA – Ponytail held up by red and white ribbons, star-shaped clips of the same colours in her hair, Shanti Pereira looked a shade different as she took to the starting blocks at the Paloma Mizuho Stadium on Sept 25.

A fourth appearance at the Asian Games called for a unique look, as the 30-year-old lined up for the women’s 100m final.

The hairdo was different but the result was the same, as Pereira claimed her second consecutive 100m silver medal at the event, clocking a season’s best of 11.21sec – just 0.01sec off her national record from the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships.

Chinese teenager Chen Yujie, 17, won the event in a Games record of 11.06sec, while Bahrain’s Edidiong Odiong finished third in 11.33sec.

Although Pereira could not find a crescent clip to pair with the stars in her hair – to represent the symbols on the Singapore flag – her wide smile was the perfect complement.

Beaming as she did her post-race interviews at the mixed zone, she said: “As you grow older, you don’t really know when you’re going to compete in one of these Games and that’s why these Games have a lot of meaning to me, because not only am I here, I’m also fighting for medals, I’m in shape and healthy.

“I’m just so thankful for all of that.”

Having topped the semi-finals earlier in the evening with a time of 11.28sec, Pereira admitted that she had been chasing gold.

But she was gracious in defeat, joking that she had pushed Chen to the Games record. “It’s so inspiring to see because it means that the sport is growing and we’re getting more and more competitive, which is really great,” she said.

“Ultimately I did want to win, but just to get on that podium really required a gutsy performance from me, from everyone, it was just fun to be part of it.”

Shanti Pereira of Singapore hugging Liao Yan-jun of Taiwan after the Asian Games athletics women’s 100m semi-final at the Paloma Mizuho Stadium in Nagoya, Japan, on Sept 25. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

Shanti Pereira of Singapore hugging Liao Yan-jun of Taiwan after the Asian Games athletics women’s 100m semi-final at the Paloma Mizuho Stadium in Nagoya, Japan, on Sept 25.

This is Pereira’s third medal at the Asiad. At the previous edition in Hangzhou three years ago, she won the 100m silver and 200m gold. Her win in the 200m in China also ended Singapore’s 49-year wait for a gold medal in athletics at the quadrennial event.

In the three years that have passed, the biggest change for Pereira has been learning to “embrace the ups and downs of this sport”.

Once weighed down by expectations, she has leaned into them.

Pereira, who is gearing up for her 200m title defence in the heats on Sept 26, added: “I love the pressure now, it’s just so fun.

“It’s a huge privilege to say that because not a lot of people get to, and the fact that I’m here chasing medals is just an incredible place to me, and I’m just happy with how my journey has played out up till now.”

Her podium finish on Sept 25 made her just the fourth Singaporean to win an athletics medal across multiple editions of the Games, after former sprinters C. Kunalan, Glory Barnabas and Maimoon Bakar Azlan.

Kunalan was the first to achieve the feat. After claiming the 100m silver and the men’s 4x400m relay bronze at the 1966 Games, he clinched bronze in the 100m and 200m at the 1970 edition before adding a 4x100m relay bronze to his collection four years later.

Barnabas and Maimoon were part of the women’s 4x100m relay quartet that bagged silver at the 1970 Bangkok Games, before claiming the 4x100m bronze and 4x400m silver in 1974.

Winning her second straight silver in the event also held special significance for Pereira, as she was the only one remaining on the podium from the last Games.

Chen’s compatriot Ge Manqi had clinched the title in China, while it was also a Bahraini – Hajar Al-Khaldi – who bagged bronze.

Pereira said: “Other countries just have a huge pool of athletes, so if one athlete is injured, there’s another one in peak form, and so they can just change things like that.

“It has made my journey a little bit different because I’m always there, I’m always ready, that’s the flex for me.”

In the men’s 100m, Thai sprint sensation Puripol Boonson announced his arrival as Asia’s fastest man with an emphatic victory on Sept 25 to become the first South-east Asian to win the event since 1982.

The 20-year-old rewrote the Games record twice en route to taking gold, posting a time of 9.91sec in the semi-finals before lowering it by 0.01sec in the blue-riband final.

He said: “I am so excited for this competition. Right now, I am so happy. Now I want to medal at the world championships and Olympics.”

Oman’s Ali Anwar Al-Balushi was second in 10.04sec, while compatriot Malham Al-Balushi took bronze in 10.11sec.

Singaporean sprinter Marc Louis placed 16th overall in the semi-finals with his time of 10.37sec, while Elizabeth-Ann Tan ranked 12th in the women’s 100m semi-finals with an 11.75sec effort.

Hosts Japan had reason to celebrate as they won two golds on the third day of athletics, with Yuri Tanaka claiming the women’s heptathlon crown and Misaki Morota winning the women’s pole vault.

Uzbekistan’s Suhrob Khodjaev won the men’s hammer throw in 74.38m, while Bahrain’s Birhanu Balew retained his 10,000m title in 28min 27.51sec.

Olympic bronze medallist Song Jiayuan clinched the women’s shot put gold with a season’s best 19.40m.

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9月25日，珊蒂·佩雷拉在亚运会女子100米决赛中跑出了赛季最佳成绩11.21秒，夺得银牌。

《海峡时报》照片：张马克

发布于 2026 年 9 月 25 日下午 6:14

更新于2026年9月25日晚上11:49

珊蒂·佩雷拉在亚运会上以赛季最佳成绩 11.21 秒的成绩连续第二次获得女子 100 米银牌，她顶住了压力，并珍视自己在田径运动中的历程。

她是继 C. Kunalan 和 Glory Barnabas 等传奇人物之后，第四位在奥运会上获得多枚田径奖牌的新加坡运动员。

男子100米比赛中，泰国短跑运动员普里蓬·汶森两次打破奥运会纪录，以9.90秒的成绩夺得金牌，成为自1982年以来首位获得该项目冠军的东南亚选手。

名古屋——9月25日，香蒂·佩雷拉在帕洛玛·瑞穗体育场的起跑线上亮相，她扎着马尾辫，头发上别着同色系的星形发夹，看起来与往常略有不同。

这位 30 岁的选手第四次参加亚运会，需要展现出独特的风采，她将参加女子 100 米决赛。

发型不同了，但结果却一样，佩雷拉在该赛事中连续第二次获得女子100米银牌，并跑出了11.21秒的赛季最佳成绩——仅比她在2023年亚洲田径锦标赛上创造的全国纪录慢了0.01秒。

17 岁的中国青少年选手陈宇杰以 11.06 秒的成绩打破赛会纪录，赢得该项目冠军，而巴林选手埃迪迪翁·奥迪翁以 11.33 秒的成绩获得第三名。

虽然佩雷拉找不到与她头发上的星星相配的新月形发夹（代表新加坡国旗上的符号），但她灿烂的笑容却是最完美的点缀。

她在混合采访区接受赛后采访时笑容满面地说：“随着年龄的增长，你真的不知道什么时候才能参加这样的奥运会，这就是为什么这届奥运会对我意义重大，因为我不仅来到这里，我还在为奖牌而战，我的状态很好，也很健康。

“我对此感激不尽。”

佩雷拉当晚早些时候以 11.28 秒的成绩位列半决赛榜首，她承认自己一直在追逐金牌。

但她输得也很有风度，开玩笑说自己把陈巍逼到了打破赛会纪录的边缘。“看到这种情况真的很鼓舞人心，这意味着这项运动正在发展，我们的竞争也越来越激烈，这真的很棒，”她说。

“我最终的确想赢，但要登上领奖台真的需要我和所有人拿出十足的勇气，能够参与其中真的很有趣。”

9月25日，在日本名古屋帕洛玛瑞穗体育场举行的亚运会田径女子100米半决赛后，新加坡选手珊蒂·佩雷拉拥抱了中国台湾选手廖彦君。（海峡时报摄影：凯文·林）

9月25日，在日本名古屋帕洛玛瑞穗体育场举行的亚运会田径女子100米半决赛结束后，新加坡选手珊蒂·佩雷拉拥抱了台湾选手廖彦君。

这是佩雷拉在亚运会上获得的第三枚奖牌。三年前在杭州举行的上一届亚运会上，她获得了女子100米银牌和女子200米金牌。她在中国赢得女子200米冠军，也结束了新加坡在四年一度的亚运会田径项目上长达49年的金牌荒。

在过去的三年里，佩雷拉最大的变化是学会了“接受这项运动的起起落落”。

她曾一度被各种期望压得喘不过气，如今却欣然接受了它们。

佩雷拉正在为9月26日预赛中卫冕200米冠军做准备，她补充道：“我现在很享受这种压力，这太有趣了。”

“能说出这样的话是一种莫大的荣幸，因为不是每个人都能做到。我能在这里追逐奖牌，这对我来说简直不可思议。我对迄今为止我的征程感到非常满意。”

9 月 25 日，她登上领奖台，成为继前短跑运动员 C. Kunalan、Glory Barnabas 和 Maimoon Bakar Azlan 之后，第四位在多届奥运会上获得田径奖牌的新加坡人。

库纳兰是第一个取得这一成就的人。在1966年奥运会上获得男子100米银牌和男子4x400米接力铜牌后，他在1970年奥运会上又获得了男子100米和200米铜牌，四年后又获得了男子4x100米接力铜牌。

巴纳巴斯和迈蒙是女子 4x100 米接力队的成员，该队在 1970 年曼谷奥运会上获得银牌，之后在 1974 年又获得了 4x100 米铜牌和 4x400 米银牌。

佩雷拉连续第二次获得该项目的银牌，这对她来说也具有特殊的意义，因为她是上届奥运会领奖台上唯一一位仍然在场的选手。

陈的同胞葛满琪在中国夺得了冠军，而另一位巴林选手——哈贾尔·哈尔迪——则获得了铜牌。

佩雷拉说：“其他国家拥有庞大的运动员储备，所以如果一名运动员受伤，还有另一名运动员处于巅峰状态，因此他们可以随时做出这样的调整。

“这让我的经历有点不一样，因为我始终都在那里，始终都准备好了，这就是我的优势所在。”

在男子 100 米比赛中，泰国短跑新星普里蓬·汶森 (Puripol Boonson) 于 9 月 25 日以压倒性优势获胜，宣告自己成为亚洲最快的男人，并成为自 1982 年以来首位赢得该项目冠军的东南亚选手。

这位 20 岁的选手在夺得金牌的征程中两次刷新了奥运会纪录，他在半决赛中跑出了 9.91 秒的成绩，然后在决赛中又将成绩提高了 0.01 秒。

他说：“我对这次比赛感到非常兴奋。我现在非常开心。我的目标是在世界锦标赛和奥运会上获得奖牌。”

阿曼选手阿里·安瓦尔·巴卢希以 10.04 秒的成绩获得第二名，他的同胞马尔哈姆·巴卢希以 10.11 秒的成绩获得铜牌。

新加坡短跑运动员马克·路易斯在半决赛中以 10.37 秒的成绩获得总排名第 16 位，而伊丽莎白·安·谭在女子 100 米半决赛中以 11.75 秒的成绩获得第 12 位。

东道主日本队有理由庆祝，因为在田径比赛的第三天，他们获得了两枚金牌，田中由里夺得了女子七项全能冠军，而诸田美咲则赢得了女子撑杆跳冠军。

乌兹别克斯坦选手苏赫罗布·霍贾耶夫以 74.38 米的成绩赢得男子链球冠军，而巴林选手比尔哈努·巴勒夫以 28 分 27.51 秒的成绩卫冕 10000 米冠军。

奥运会铜牌得主宋嘉媛以赛季最佳成绩19.40米夺得女子铅球金牌。

通过《海峡时报》的每周新闻简报，深入了解新加坡的所有体育赛事和趋势。