At the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium on Monday (Oct 2), Shanti Pereira clocked 23.03s to win the women’s 200m final at the Asian Games. This is Singapore’s first athletics gold medal since 1974, when Chee Swee Leea won the women’s 400m. Congratulations Shanti!
Singapore celebrates her win, and sponsorship money looms on the horizon for Shanti. Things are looking up. But how much support has Shanti actually received before her win? Is the entire sporting industry in Singapore only focused on the winners? Because that's what gold-diggers do too.
Darker Days
In 2018, Shanti experienced a grade 2 hamstring strain that sidelined her for a month. Unfortunately, the injury reoccurred shortly after she returned to training, affecting her performance at the Asian Games that year. She had been on the Sports Excellence Scholarship since 2016, with the goal of potentially winning a medal at the 2018 Asian Games. However, there was not enough time for her to recover and reach her peak condition for the competition.
"I lost the Sports Excellence scholarship because I didn't meet my goal. It was a very tough period for me. I also had a minimum GPA requirement to maintain, but I couldn't meet that either, so I lost another scholarship right after losing the Sports Excellence one. Both of these events happened within a week of each other, and it was one of the most challenging experiences I've ever faced." - Shanti
Shanti cites a loving and supportive family which helped her to get back on her feet. Thank the heavens for them, and our Asian Games gold medal.
Dual Lives
In the day, Shanti works as a fashion copywriter at DC Edit, a local lifestyle media company. You can check out her writings here. She says that she is fortunate to have a supportive boss who understands her need to take time off to train.
In her book, Amy Westervelt lamented the dilemma of working mothers with a famous quote.
“We expect women to work like they don't have children, and raise children as if they don't work.” - Amy Westervelt, lamenting the dilemma of working mothers
Perhaps the same applies for our athletes. Can they compete with full-time athletes while holding down a day job? Can they build a career transition out after trying to win glory for the nation?
Again, congratulations to Shanti. She overcame every obstacle in her way, and will no doubt inspire more athletes and bring more attention and support for the sports scene in Singapore. At the same time, let us not forget the many other Shantis-to-be, currently struggling to balance their studies and career alongside their sports. Our next sporting achiever lies in their midst.
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