June 13, 2024
SINGAPORE – The tattoo of the five Olympic rings on Shanti Pereira’s right wrist embodies her quest to keep breaking new ground as a sprinter.
On June 12, another ring came into the picture, adding one more significant milestone to her life as she announced her engagement to boyfriend Tan Zong Yang.
The Asian Games gold medallist posted on Instagram a series of photos with former national sprinter Tan, documenting the couple’s engagement at the Drottningholm Palace in Stockholm, Sweden on June 9.
In the post, Pereira, 27, said: “Cheers to your 30th, 3 years together, and to the rest of our lives!!!!!!!!”
There were many congratulatory messages for the engaged couple on Pereira’s post, including comments from fellow Singaporean athletes such as national badminton player Yeo Jia Min and former sprinter Timothee Yap.
Tan, whose birthday was on June 11, has been a constant figure of support in Pereira’s life, travelling to cheer her on at various meets, including the Hangzhou Asian Games and Asian Athletics Championships in 2023.
She attained several breakthroughs at these events, winning historic golds at the Asian championships in Bangkok, before ending Singapore’s 49-year wait for an athletics medal at the Asiad, where she won a gold in the women’s 200m and a silver in the 100m.
Like his fiancee, Tan has also enjoyed success on the track. At the Hanoi SEA Games in 2022, he claimed the 400m bronze, winning Singapore’s first medal in the event in 47 years.
The couple began dating in 2021 after four years of friendship.
Singapore’s sprint queen is now in Europe to prepare for the July 26-Aug 11 Paris Olympics. This will be Pereira’s second appearance at the quadrennial event, after she made her debut at the delayed Tokyo Games in 2021.
In Tokyo, she placed 39th out of 41 overall in the 200m with a season’s best time of 23.96 seconds in the heats.
Pereira, who was named Sportswoman of the Year at the Singapore Sports Awards on June 3, has since lowered her 200m time to the current national record of 22.57sec, which she clocked at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
She met the Olympic qualifying mark with her effort in the Hungarian capital, securing her spot at the Paris Games and becoming the first Singaporean to reach the semi-finals of the world championships in the process.