Shanti Pereira suffers injury setback ahead of Paris Olympics

SINGAPORE: Singapore sprint queen Shanti Pereira has suffered an injury, several months before the Paris Olympics. 

Singapore Athletics (SA) confirmed the "injury blow" in a statement on its website late on Monday (Apr 15). 

"Shanti has been ruled out of action with a leg injury ahead of the 84th Singapore Open Track & Field Championships as well as the Diamond League competition in Xiamen and Shanghai," it said. 

Her coach Luis Cunha said she sustained a "common sport injury" and that her competition plans will be adapted as a precaution to focus on recovery. 

Pereira and her coach were scheduled to return to Singapore to compete at the Singapore Open Track and Field Championships on Apr 18 to 19. Pereira had been in Florida in the US since the first week of February for training at the National Training Centre in Orlando.

Pereira was then meant to be mostly based in Europe. This was to help her prepare for the Paris Games in August, said Singapore Athletics in an Instagram post earlier in March.

Singapore Athletics said that it will work with Pereira, her coach and the Singapore Sport Institute (SSI) to ensure that she receives all the support required to aid in her recovery.

"SA will also be working closely with Luis to reorganise her training preparations towards Paris 2024 in the coming weeks," the organisation said.

"In the meantime, she will train and undergo rehabilitation in Singapore," her coach added. 

The Paris Olympics will run from Jul 26 to Aug 11, with the athletics events scheduled for Aug 2 to Aug 11 in and around the Stade de France.

Pereira has already met the 200m qualifying mark for the Games after her run at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest, Hungary in August 2023. 

During her stint in Florida,