Singaporean star sprinter Shanti Pereira very narrowly missed out on a historic women's 100m gold medal at the Asian Games on Sep. 30 after she lost the race by a mere 0.04 seconds.

Highlights of the race has since been put up online, which showed exactly how close the neck and neck final really was (race starts at the 5-minute mark of the video).

In the end, the 27-year-old clinched the silver medal with a time of 11.27 sec at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, putting an end to Singapore’s 49-year wait for a track and field medal.

The gold medal went to China's Ge Manqi, who won with a time of 11.23sec.

Commentator called it for Pereira

But how close was close?

Based on the commentator's narration of the race as it unfolded, he had called the win for Singapore repeatedly initially — until the official result was announced at the stadium.

This was what the commentator said when the runners first blasted past the finish line, and the results were tentative as it was too close to call definitely without relying on slow motion replay:

"Pereira's gonna take it! What a year!"

"What a year for the Singapore athlete."

"11.23! Just outside her personal best."

"And like Sha’Carri Richardson in the World Championships in Budapest, its been won from the outside lane."

"The Chinese are stunned."

"I don't think Pereira knows she got it yet, as she was so far out."

"But it was a clear victory in my book."

"China get the silver."

Commentator stunned

The commentator was subsequently stunned when he realised the Chinese had won instead.

He said: "Really? The winner is the Chinese? Wow, what a finish."

"When she crossed the line, she clearly felt she hadn't got it. The tears now are probably amplifying that feeling," the commentator added as he talked about China's Ge, while watching the other runners come to terms with their official timings.

"11.23. Four-hundredths of a second. The difference. Pereira has the silver. We said she wasn't the fastest but she got a fantastic start."

Slow motion replay

During the slow motion replay, the commentator could then see what he missed in real time: China's Ge had her neck stuck out right at the end to pip Pereira to the gold.

"Pereira at the far side has the lead at the moment," the commentator said while watching the race in slow motion.

He said: "But the fast-finishing Chinese comes through and claims it. I was wrong. I was so convinced Pereira had it."

"She only came through in the last five metres."

Describing what he saw off-camera towards the end of the clip, the commentator appeared to highlight that he was not alone in calling it for the Singaporean sprinter at first: "There were a few Singapore people in front of us who thought Pereira had won it too."

Top photo via Mediacorp