After a “really tough season,” Singapore’s sprint queen Shanti Pereira is happy to be back home and “start over.”

In her second Games campaign, Pereira did not make it past the 100 m and 200 m heats.

In the 200-meter race, she ran a time of 23.21 seconds in the heats before reaching a time of 23.45 seconds in the repechages. Her national record is 22.57 seconds.

In the 100-meter race, she achieved a time of 11.63 seconds, placing her 55th out of 72 athletes. Her national record is 11.20 seconds.

“I really wish this season had gone differently, but there's nothing I can do about it now other than learning from it and accepting that it's part of every athlete's journey… Knowing that and still knowing what I put on the table, I'm really happy with myself. Now I'm just excited to start fresh.”

She added that there was still positive news to report.

“Looking back, I think I had a pretty good season despite all the difficulties I had to overcome,” Pereira said.

“My coach and I talked about it… this is really my second best season ever in terms of the times I've achieved, and I've still achieved times that are among the best in Asia.”

At the same time, Pereira is aware that she is now at a “whole new level” than in the past.

“I have the last year to thank for that. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to say that I am in such a position,” she said.

“It has its pressure points for sure, but all in all… Going into every competition, you know you want to raise your level, and now you're at a different level. It's just a whole thing that you have to learn to deal with and handle every time you show up for a big competition, a small competition, whatever.”

A BIG YEAR AHEAD

Pereira is also grateful that he was able to compete in Paris in good health.

“I got my place there, managed to be healthy, compete and really give it my all, even though a lot of people didn't really have the chance,” she said.

“I was just really grateful to be able to be there and soak it all up. And it was my second Olympics, so it's something to add to my bucket list, which is great.”

Following her Olympic campaign, Pereira also competed in Finland and Denmark, aiming to improve on her previous season's best.

“My season started late, that's one of the reasons I wanted to continue,” she said. “(It was) also to see what I still have in the tank from all the training.”