Singapore's Shanti Pereira finishes 31st in 200m round 1, has second chance to progress

PARIS: Singapore’s sprint queen Shanti Pereira on Sunday (Aug 4) missed out on automatic qualification for the 200m semi-finals at the Paris Olympics, but will get a second chance to do so. 

At the Stade de France, Pereira finished last out of eight athletes in her heat with a time of 23.21s. Only the top three from the six heats move on. 

She finished 31st out of 45 competitors.

The Asian gold medallist’s personal best and national record stands at 22.57s, while her season’s best stands at 23.17s.

Pereira will get a second chance on Monday to qualify if she clocks one of the top times in the repecharge round on Monday.

The repecharge round provides athletes with a second chance to qualify for the semi-finals as part of a new format for certain events.

It replaces the old system where athletes with the fastest remaining times go through.

There will be four repechage heats on Monday, with six slots up to grabs.

The athlete who tops each heat qualifies for the semi-finals, as well as the next two with the fastest times across all four heats.

Earlier in the Games, Pereira failed to advance to the 100m semi-finals, finishing 55th out of 72 athletes overall. Her time of 11.63s saw her place 7th out of nine runners in her heat. Her national record stands at 11.20s.

Last year was a career-defining one for Pereira.

At the Hangzhou Asian Games, she won the women’s 200m final – Singapore’s first athletics gold medal since 1974. 

Days before that, Pereira ended Singapore’s nearly 50-year wait for a track and field medal at the Asian Games, after she won a silver in the 100m. 

Pereira notched a sprint double at the Asian Athletics Championships in July and also became the first Singaporean woman to win both the 100m and 200m events at the SEA