Singaporean sprint queen Shanti Pereira took part in the 400m race at the Florida Relays on March 30 — and broke the national record.

Her participation in the 400m run, which is not her pet event, was part of her preparations before the Paris Olympics in August.

Pereira’s 53.67 second timing saw her finished fifth.

The top spot went to Canada’s Kyra Constantine, who clocked 51.50 seconds.

Malaysia’s Shereen Samson Vallabouy clocked 52.29 seconds to take bronze.

However, the 27-year-old Singaporean's effort smashed the 54.18 seconds mark set by Dipna Lim-Prasad, who went on to clinched a silver medal at the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.

Previously, Pereira clocked 56.97 seconds at the previous 400m race at the Singapore Athletics Performance Trials in 2020, the World Athletics website showed.

This latest competitive run in the James G. Pressly Stadium at the University of Florida marked the completion of her two-month training stint overseas.

2023 was a great year for the sprinter, who had a haul of five gold medals and a silver at major meets.

In August 2023, she earned a Paris Olympics spot when she became the first Singaporean to reach the semi-finals of the world championships.

At the Hangzhou Asian Games, she won the 100m silver and 200m gold to become the first Singaporean to clinch an Asiad athletics title since Chee Swee Lee in 1974.

Pereira will next compete in the Singapore Open from April 18 to 19 and also take part in competitions in Europe before the Olympics.

Top photos via Shanti Pereira Instagram & tracknationtv YouTube