Shanti Pereira fails to qualify for Olympic 200m semi-finals, finishes last in second chance heat

Singapore sprinter Shanti Pereira came in last in her Aug. 5 repechage heat at the Stade de France, ranking seventh out of seven with a timing of 23:45 seconds.

She did not secure a spot in the Aug. 6 semi-finals.

Repechage round

The 27-year-old came in eighth place in her 200m heats on Aug. 4, with a timing of 23.21 seconds.

The first three in each heat advanced to the semi-finals, while the others advanced to the repechage round — a new "second chance" round introduced at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

In the repechage round, athletes who finish first in their heats can advance to the semi-finals despite not making the cut previously.

The two next-fastest runners in the overall heats would also advance to the semi-finals.

Winners of the four repechage heats and the next two fastest would make it for the semi-finals, to be held later in the day.

Pereira ranked 18th out of 24 in the repechage heats, marking the end of her Olympic journey.

She previously came in seventh in her heats for the women's 100m with a timing of 11.63 seconds, failing to make the cut for the semi-finals.

Record-setter

Pereira became the first Singaporean to qualify for the 200m event when she matched the entry mark of 22.57 seconds on Aug. 23, 2023, at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.

She holds the national record in Singapore of 11.20s for the 100m sprint, and 22.57s for the 200m sprint.

She ended 2023's season with a gold medal in the 2023 Asian Games' 200m sprint — Singapore's first athletics gold medal since 1974.

Top image from Kong Chong Yew/SNOC