Singapore sprint queen Shanti Pereira does not advance to 100m semis at Paris Olympics

PARIS: Singapore sprint queen Shanti Pereira missed out on a spot in the women’s 100m semi-finals at the Paris Olympics after she finished 55th out of 72 athletes in the heats on Fri (Aug 2).

At the Stade de France, Pereira clocked a time of 11.63s to finish 7th out of nine runners in her heat. 

Her national record stands at 11.20s.

The top three in each heat and the next fastest three of the eight heats qualify for the semis.

Last month, it was announced that Pereira, silver medallist in the 100m at the last Asian Games, will compete in the event after she qualified through her world ranking.

Pereira, who was one of Singapore’s two flag bearers alongside sailor Ryan Lo, had earlier qualified for the 200m by meeting the Olympic entry standard.

She was 42nd in the Race to Paris rankings in the 100m event, with the top 56 qualifying, according to a list from World Athletics (WA).

Qualification for the Games is based on a dual pathway. Athletes could qualify via entry standards as well as world rankings. The entry standard for the 100m event is 11.07s.

Pereira has been based in Europe for the past few months as she ramped up training for Paris. 

She had suffered an injury setback earlier in the year, where a stress injury in her fibula put paid to plans to compete in the Diamond League and various meets.

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