The first female athlete in Southeast Asia to run 200m in under 23 seconds
The above results helped Veronica Shanti to top the qualifying round, but then withdrew from the final race. Veronica's record of 22 seconds 89 took place in favorable wind conditions of 1.9 m/s – 0.01 seconds from the threshold of unrecognized results.
The runner born in 1996 broke the Southeast Asian record of 23 seconds 01 held by Filipino athlete Kristina Knott at the 30th SEA Games, and also broke the Singapore record of 23 seconds 46 set by herself at the Commonwealth Games in the UK in August 2022.
Also at the tournament in Australia, Veronica achieved 11 seconds 37 in the 100m to break the Singapore record. This parameter is better than SEA Games 30 gold medalist Le Tu Chinh (11 seconds 54) and SEA Games gold medal 31 Kayla Richardson (11 seconds 60).
Veronica Shanti Pereira emerged from Singapore school sports. She attended from the 28th SEA Games held at home, winning the 200m gold medal - 23 seconds 60 and the bronze medal 100m - 11 seconds 88. Since then, the 26-year-old runner's performance has continuously improved.
At the 30th SEA Games, Veronica won the 100m bronze medal with 11 seconds 66, the 200m bronze medal with 23 seconds 77. At the 31st SEA Games, the achievements were 100m silver medal - 11 seconds 62 and 200m gold medal - 23 seconds 52 respectively. Running in the UK in August 2022, she broke two national records with a time of 11 seconds 48 and 23 seconds 46.
These achievements help her become the leading candidate for two gold medals at the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia, competing with the biggest rival Kayla Richardson of the Philippines. Meanwhile, Le Tu Chinh has not yet fully recovered from the knee surgery that caused her to miss the 31st SEA Games.
At the Ho Chi Minh City Speed Cup on April 1, Tu Chinh ran 100m in 11 seconds 81. Wanting to compete for a medal at the 32nd SEA Games, she had to raise her achievement to 11 seconds 60. However, Tu Chinh is not sure about participating. hesitated to be on the list of athletes to be reduced by the General Department of Physical Education and Sports. Ho Chi Minh City Athletics Federation is waiting for the results of local funding to support Tu Chinh to Cambodia.
