'It's going to make me stronger': Sprint queen Shanti Pereira vows comeback after Paris Olympics exit

PARIS: Hers is a story of peaks and valleys and while her second Olympics campaign did not go anywhere near the way Shanti Pereira wanted, she has vowed to come back stronger - with possibly one more Olympics campaign.

Pereira exited the Paris Olympics on Monday (Aug 5) after she finished last in her 200m repechage heat. At the Stade de France, Singapore’s sprint queen clocked a time of 23.45s in heat 1.

There were four repechage heats on Monday, with six slots up for grabs.

Only the athletes who topped each heat qualified for the semi-finals, as well as the next two with the fastest times across all four heats.

The repechage round is part of a new format for certain events. It replaces the old system where athletes with the fastest remaining times go through.

“It sucks, the whole campaign hasn’t been what I wanted it to be like,” Pereira told reporters.

“Especially after qualifying for it (the 200m) last year, I was looking forward to a lot better results here, a semi-finals spot at least … I’m sad, I’m heartbroken.”

Pereira’s personal best and national record stands at 22.57s, while her season’s best is 23.17s.

This marks the end of a difficult meet for the Asian Games 200m gold medallist who had her Olympics preparation cruelly curtailed by a stress injury in her fibula.

But the Singaporean said that she’s learnt from going through tough times throughout her life and added that she will be eyeing one more shot at the Olympics.

“That (Los Angeles 2028) is the goal,” said Pereira.

“Just going to take this as a learning point. This is a part of my journey, it’s normal for a lot of people to be going through injuries ... I know for a fact it’s going to make me stronger.”

On Sunday, Pereira missed out on automatic qualification in the