SINGAPORE – On Thursday afternoon, a crowd of 70 people were gathered at Changi Airport for what was no ordinary arrival.
It was the homecoming of Singapore’s Asian Games gold-winning sprint queen Shanti Pereira, who made history with an inspiring and dominant 200m victory in Hangzhou.
Clutching notebooks, garlands, flowers, pens, posters and their mobile phones, the supporters were all eager for a photo, or an autograph from the golden girl, the history-maker.
Travellers coming through Changi Airport’s T1 arrival hall, who were not in the know, were taken aback by the sizeable media crew and crowd that had gathered.
Some were heard asking who the wait was for, to be told that “the Asian Games gold medalist is arriving”.
And then she stepped into the arrival hall with a big smile to cheers and applause from fans, friends, family, and officials.
The champion was back. The newly crowned Asian sprint queen, who ended Singapore’s 49-year wait for an Asiad athletics gold medal when she won the women’s 200m gold on Monday, while she also won the silver in the 100m.
The 27-year-old will pocket $300,000 from the Singapore National Olympic Council’s Major Games Award Programme for her exploits, even though 20 per cent of it will go to Singapore Athletics for training and development.
Pereira was swarmed by fans and she obliged their requests, posing for photos and signing autographs.
Speaking to the media with her gold and silver medals around her neck, she said that it was really nice to see everyone really excited and a lot of her family members there as well. “It is a nice, warm welcome back home.”
Pereira, will be leaving for a holiday in South Korea on Friday. She added: “I am excited for that, to rest and reflect on what a great year it has been and not just the great moments but the learning points.
“There were a lot of races that didn’t pan out the way I wanted it to”, she said, “so just a lot of reflection and enjoying this moment.”
Student Tan Hao Ren, 15, who was among the supporters at the airport said: “I feel a sense of pride whenever I see a Singaporean doing what they love.” He said that seeing the number of people here there showed how united Singaporeans were and how they all came together to celebrate each other’s achievements.
“It’s nice to be here to welcome her back.”
The hope, for the athletics fraternity, is for Shanti Pereira’s achievement to leave a lasting impact.
And it was why Singapore Athletics president Lien Choong Luen hoped that come 2029 at the home SEA Games, new heroes will emerge in the hunt for the next Shanti Pereira.
Lien said that Shanti put in months of hard work with her coach Luis (Cunha), competing overseas and clocking many hours just to shave fractions of a second. Lien also hoped these performances would encourage young athletes watching at home to similarly commit themselves to aiming for excellence.Pereira said she really hoped her story could somehow inspire not just track and field athletes but people from every sport who are thinking of pursuing it a bit more seriously than they were now.
She said that she found something that she loves to do and just worked hard at it, pushed for it and didn’t give up because this was what she wanted to do.
She also said “If anyone else is feeling the same way as me, I say go for it, don’t be afraid to dream big.”
She added that it does not have to be a scary thing, but that you have to put in hard work and sacrifice a lot of things to reach the goal.
Pereira will continue to dream big for herself, and for Singapore with her goal of an Asiad gold attained.
