Singapore’s Shanti Pereira has made Asian Games history by successfully defending her women’s 200m title at the Aichi-Nagoya Games, becoming the first woman to win the event twice.
Pereira, 30, stormed to gold at the Paloma Mizuho Stadium in Nagoya on Sept. 27, clocking a season-best 22.78 seconds in a rain-soaked final. China’s 17-year-old Chen Yujie finished second in 22.93 seconds, while India’s Harita Bhadra took bronze in 23.20 seconds.
The victory adds another milestone to Pereira’s career. She became the first female athlete to retain the Asian Games 200m crown, three years after winning Singapore’s first athletics gold at the continental Games since 1974.
Pereira entered the final after an intense run of competition in Nagoya. She had already contested the 100m heats, semi-final and final before competing in the 200m heats, making the workload particularly demanding.
She won silver in the 100m final on Sept. 25, finishing behind Chen, who set a Games record of 11.06 seconds. Pereira clocked a season-best 11.21 seconds in that race.
Two days later, the two sprinters met again in the 200m final, but this time Pereira finished ahead.
Chen made the faster start, but Pereira closed the gap during the final stages of the race and crossed the line first. Her 22.78-second performance was also her fastest time of the season.
The victory came despite Pereira saying she was exhausted before the final and had been struggling to sleep because of nerves and anxiety surrounding the competition. She had nevertheless remained confident in her ability to execute the race.
Her latest gold gives Singapore another major athletics achievement at the Aichi-Nagoya Games. It also adds to the two medals she won in the same events at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, where she took 100m silver and 200m gold.
The rivalry with Chen has quickly become one of the most closely watched sprint storylines of the Games. The Chinese teenager defeated Pereira in the 100m, while Pereira responded in the 200m, producing two contrasting results between the same two athletes.
Pereira’s victory also marked Singapore’s second gold medal of the 2026 Asian Games, according to the Singapore National Olympic Council.
After crossing the finish line, Pereira celebrated by striking the Singapore flag on her chest before embracing the significance of the achievement. She later said she believed she could win despite the fatigue and pressure surrounding the race.
The historic victory places Pereira in a unique position in Asian Games sprint history. No woman had previously defended the 200m title, making her consecutive victories at Hangzhou and Aichi-Nagoya a first for the event.
For Singapore athletics, the achievement extends the impact of Pereira’s breakthrough at the previous Asian Games while establishing another milestone on the continental stage.
