In a spectacular showing, national sprinter Shanti Pereira set two national records at the 200-metre heats at the 2022 Commonwealth Games last week on August 4 with a time of 23.46 seconds.

She clocked 23.46 seconds to lower her 200-metre national mark by 0.06 seconds during the heats at the Alexander Stadium on August 4. This put her in 10th place out of 36 and propelled her into the semi-finals of the event which was held on August 5.

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This result followed another breathtaking show last Tuesday when she also set a national 100-metre record of 11.48 seconds in the heats, where she finished 10th out of 36 runners, before exiting at the semi-final stage after clocking 11.57 seconds.

“I’ve just been very hard on myself the past many years so just accepting that I’m on this path and I’m just really doing this for myself and my country and the people who matter in my life and ultimately just accepting that this is my own journey,”  she told reporters after the race.

“If there’s anything for someone to say, it should be me and not anybody else and that change in mindset is what really helped me perform.”

She added that it has taken her a long time to accept that every athlete’s journey comes with expectations and pressure. “People may say whatever they want but it’s my journey. Especially this year, I learnt to accept that pressure was just a part of what I do.”