'Remarkable feat, remarkable athlete': President Tharman, PM Wong congratulate Shanti Pereira on historic 200m Asiad title defence

Singapore's sprint queen Shanti Pereira did not allow rain to dampen her plans as she became the first woman to defend her 200m Asian Games crown.

Pereira, 30, clocked 22.78s, crossing the line ahead of China's Chen Yujie's 22.93s at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium on Sunday (Sept 27),

The Singaporean's win comes just two days after she took home the silver medal in the 100m event , finishing behind the 17-year-old she beat in the 200m event.

"I'm so exhausted from all my races and I honestly haven’t been sleeping very well, probably from anxiety and just nerves," Pereira said.

She added: "But I knew that the mind is just such a powerful thing, if I believed and just let my body flow, I could bring it back home for Singapore."

Describing the win as "brilliant", President Tharman Shanmugaratnam said the sprinter gave everything she had — physically, mentally and emotionally, again — to make history.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said: "A remarkable feat from a remarkable athlete. Congratulations, Shanti! Singapore is immensely proud of you!"

新加坡短跑女王珊蒂·佩雷拉没有让雨水浇灭她的计划，她成为第一个卫冕亚运会女子200米冠军的选手。

30岁的佩雷拉在周日（9月27日）于名古屋市瑞穗公园田径场跑出了22.78秒的成绩，领先中国选手陈宇杰的22.93秒冲过终点线。

这位新加坡选手在两天前刚刚获得女子100米比赛银牌，在女子200米比赛中，她输给了那位17岁的选手。

佩雷拉说：“我参加了很多比赛，累得筋疲力尽，老实说，我睡眠也不太好，可能是因为焦虑和紧张。”

她补充道：“但我知道思想的力量非常强大，如果我相信，并且让我的身体自由发挥，我就能把它带回新加坡。”

尚达曼总统称赞这场胜利“精彩绝伦”，并表示这位短跑运动员再次倾尽全力——无论是在身体上、精神上还是情感上——创造了历史。

黄循财总理说：“一位杰出运动员的非凡壮举。祝贺珊蒂！新加坡为你感到无比自豪！”