All of my SEA Games medals are very precious to me
from the first time that I won till the SEA Games this year.
I think all of it has a special place in my heart.
Where do you keep those medals?
I have a shelf at home that I keep all the medals.
My mom is telling me I need a new system because it’s overcrowding a bit.
Winning medals. Breaking records. Making history.
In May this year, Shanti Pereira became the first Singaporean woman
to claim the sprint double at the South-east Asian Games.
Since then, she has continued to lower her times
for the 100 and 200 metres.
I’m Sumiko Tan, executive editor at The Straits Times.
I’m having lunch with Shanti Pereira
at the cafe Neptune in East Coast Road.
She tells me how she has a busy few months ahead of her.
So which has been the most special race for you?
I’ve had a few but definitely the first time I ever went below 12 seconds for the 100 metres.
That was 10 years ago.
And also when I went below 23 seconds just this year.
This was at the Australia national championships.
Yeah, that was a pretty special moment.
So your days are pretty intense?
Yeah, it can get pretty intense.
I mean, I train twice a day.
Almost every day except for Sundays. They are my rest days.
In between my training sessions is when I take time for my recovery.
So I see the physio, I go get a massage or just anything of that nature.
It’s to recover and prepare for my sessions.
How different is it to race the 100m and 200m?
For the 200m, there’s more strategy involved because it is a longer distance.
and it does require a bit more endurance than the 100m.
You can kind of play to your strengths.
Like if you’re a better endurance runner, then you can kind of pace it out better.
But for the 100m, it’s like ‘snap’!
It’s like over it in a really short time.
So the legs have to go incredibly fast, for as long as you can throughout the whole race.
Is there a pre-race Shanti and a post-race Shanti? Are they different?
Pre-race Shanti listens to music, gets zoned out
to warm up for my race.
But again, I try to keep it light.
I listen to music that just gives me the right kind of vibe.
I just feel really excited to compete,
like just going with the vibe of the songs.
Post-race Shanti is times two out there.
Of course it depends on how the result is.
If it’s a good result I'll be extremely happy.
If it’s a bad result, the reality of things is that I probably won’t be as happy.
But just go back to my coach
and listen to his feedback and just find out what happened.
What sort of music? What’s on your playlist?
Not typical songs you’d see in a pre-race playlist.
But very like 2000s, R&B kind of songs.
Yeah, just stuff I can dance to.
You do dance?
I don’t dance.
I’m a very bad dancer
but I can groove to things, yeah.
What is the best thing about being an athlete?
I really enjoy what I do every day.
And it definitely gives you some sort of challenge in your everyday also.
Like you’re always trying to be a better version of yourself.
Both personally and as an athlete.
And it tests you in so many different ways,
not just physically, but mentally as well.
Although you have the big goals of winning medals, and all that stuff...
But the things that you go through every day,
the things that you overcome every day,
the things you realise you can do,
the feeling that, I think, you can’t really describe.
It’s very self-fulfilling
when you realise that you can overcome all these kind of little battles
that you go through every day.
There have been bad times as well.
Definitely. Yeah.
How did you cope, or come out of that?
I’ve had my fair share of injuries, feeling the pressure from the racing and all that.
But I think what helped me overcome all that
was just realising that this is my own journey
and I’m the only person that has the power to dictate what happens in my journey.
The only people that matter are just your close support groups.
And nobody else.
So, yeah, you’re doing it for them.
You’re doing it for yourself.
You come across really grounded.
But who keeps you grounded?
I think my parents, for sure.
They’ve kept me grounded from the minute I started track and field
because they just know that it can get into your head
especially when you do like incredibly well.
So it’s important to just come back, chill out a bit.
Just be thankful for this journey that you’re on.
What’s the next two years like for you?
It’s already been a crazy year so far
but I have a few more major competitions coming up this year.
And then it’s training to compete at the Paris Olympics.
So it’s going to be a lot of races, training both here and overseas.
What message do you have, for say, a 14-year-old girl
who wants to be a sprinter like yourself?
Don’t be afraid to go for it.
In secondary school, it’s relatively easy to just join a CCA
and just have fun with it as you go along.
People are going to say that it might not be the best option.
But if it’s what you want, if it’s what you think is right for you,
then I say go for it.
Thanks very much for having lunch.
No problem.