Womens 200 metres Round 1 Heat 5 | 02 Aug 21 | |||||
Veronica Shanti Pereira (born 20 September 1996) is a Singaporean Indian track and field athlete who specialises in the 100 metres, 200 metres, 4 x 100 metres relay, and 4 x 400 metres relay.
Pereira holds the national records for the 100 metres (11.58s) and 200 metres (23.60s), and is the first female Singaporean to have clocked under 12s and 24s for the 100m and 200m respectively. She also holds the U-23 records for the 100 metres (11.80s) and 200 metres (23.99s) and was a member of the teams which set the records for the 4 x 100 metres (46.64s) and 4 x 400 metres (3:44.80) relays; the U-19 records for the 100 metres (11.89s) and 200 metres (23.99s); the U-17 records for the 100 metres (12.21s) and 200 metres (24.92s); and U-15 records for the 100 metres (12.68s).
In 2013, Pereira became the first female Singaporean to run the 100 metres in under 12 seconds when she clocked 11.89s at the 2013 World Youth Championships in Athletics in Donetsk, Ukraine. At the 2013 Southeast Asian Games, she came in fourth in the 100 metres final. In 2014, she became the first female Singaporean to run the 200 metres in under 24 seconds when she clocked 23.99s at the Asian Junior Athletics Championships.
Pereira in the 100 metres final at the 2015 SEA Games, in which she won the bronze medal
Pereira in the 200 metres final at the 2015 SEA Games, in which she won the gold medal and rewrote her national record
At the 2015 Southeast Asian Games, Pereira won the bronze medal in the 100 metres with a time of 11.88s, Singapore's first medal in the event in 42 years. She also won the gold medal in the 200 metres with a time of 23.60s, rewriting the national record she had set in the day's heats (23.82s). This was Singapore's first gold medal in a sprint event in 42 years. Although the Singapore quartet which she was part of came in fourth in the 4 x 400 metres relay, it broke the oldest record in Singapore's athletics history with a time of 3:40.58. In her final event, the 4 x 100 metres relay, the team came in fourth, but set a new national record of 45.41s.
Pereira studied for a diploma in sports and leisure management offered jointly by Republic Polytechnic and Singapore Sports School. In 2017, she was awarded the Yip Pin Xiu Scholarship to study accountancy at Singapore Management University.
At the 2017 Southeast Asian Games, Pereira won the bronze medal in both the 100 and 200 metres; she repeated this feat at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.
In 2021, Pereira qualified for the 200 metres in the 2020 Summer Olympics through universality places. She finished 6th in her heat with a season-best timing of 23.96s.