First, she won a silver in the women’s 100m race, then just two days later she got the gold in the women’s 200m. It was Singapore’s first track and field gold medal since Chee Swee Lee won the women’s 400m gold in 1974 at the Tehran Games.

The two Asian Games medals capped an outstanding year for Shanti. She was unstoppable, winning medal after medal at regional games and breaking many personal, national, and games records.

At the SEA Games in Phnom Penh in May 2023, Shanti became the first Singaporean woman to win both the 100m and 200m sprints at the same SEA games. At the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok in July, she again won the sprint double. In August, at the World Athletics Championships held in Budapest, she did not win any medals but the 22.57s she clocked during the 200m heats matched the qualifying time for entry to the Paris Olympics.

Shanti’s successes were all the more remarkable for the fact that just a few years earlier, she was dismissed by some as a one-hit wonder, an athlete who had not been able to build on her early promise.

The youngest child in a family of runners, Shanti’s sprinting talent was apparent when she was in primary school and easily won the 100m and 400m races at the annual sports days. As a teenager studying at the Singapore Sports School, she was a star performer at the National School Games and began to make her mark in regional and international meets.

When she was 17, Shanti became the first female Singaporean to run the 100m in under 12 seconds when she clocked 11.89s at the 2013 World Youth Championships in Athletics in Donetsk, Ukraine. At the SEA Games that year, she was fourth in the 100m final. The following year Shanti became the first female Singaporean to run the 200m in under 24 seconds when she clocked 23.99s at the Asian Junior Athletics Championships.

Then at the 2015 SEA Games, 19-year-old Shanti won the bronze medal in the 100m with a time of 11.88s. It was Singapore’s first medal in the event in 42 years. She then won the gold medal in the 200m with a time of 23.60s – Singapore’s first gold medal in a sprint event in the SEA Games in 42 years.

But then Shanti hit a wall. She suffered a series of setbacks and her athletic performance slumped. In 2018 a hamstring injury threw her off her preparation for and performance at the Asian Games, and she failed to meet the targets needed to keep the Sports Excellence Scholarship (SPEX) that she had been awarded two years earlier.

Almost immediately after this, she also lost the Yip Pin Xiu Scholarship that the Singapore Management University had awarded her to study accountancy because she could not hit the minimum academic performance required of her.

The double blow hit her badly, made worse by the fact that she realised she was not interested in a career in accountancy. Her struggle with what she described as an identity crisis took its toll on her sporting career, and she found herself reluctant to train and compete because she feared she would fail.

But a few weeks before the 2022 SEA Games, she had a Eureka moment. As she explained in an interview in September 2023, her attitude suddenly switched, and she said to herself: “I’m done with feeling sorry for myself. I know this is something I want to do. I know that running is something that I was born to do. It’s made me who I am today and it’s always going to be a part of who I am. I don’t want to waste this talent I was blessed with.”

At the Hanoi SEA Games in May 2022, Shanti won the women’s 200m gold medal. This was, she said, a very significant medal for her because it came after a seven-year slump as an athlete. In October 2022 Shanti returned to the SPEX programme and soon after she quit her job in fashion in order to focus fully on her running.

First, she won a silver in the women’s 100m race, then just two days later she got the gold in the women’s 200m. It was Singapore’s first track and field gold medal since Chee Swee Lee won the women’s 400m gold in 1974 at the Tehran Games.

The two Asian Games medals capped an outstanding year for Shanti. She was unstoppable, winning medal after medal at regional games and breaking many personal, national, and games records.

At the SEA Games in Phnom Penh in May 2023, Shanti became the first Singaporean woman to win both the 100m and 200m sprints at the same SEA games. At the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok in July, she again won the sprint double. In August, at the World Athletics Championships held in Budapest, she did not win any medals but the 22.57s she clocked during the 200m heats matched the qualifying time for entry to the Paris Olympics.

Shanti’s successes were all the more remarkable for the fact that just a few years earlier, she was dismissed by some as a one-hit wonder, an athlete who had not been able to build on her early promise.

The youngest child in a family of runners, Shanti’s sprinting talent was apparent when she was in primary school and easily won the 100m and 400m races at the annual sports days. As a teenager studying at the Singapore Sports School, she was a star performer at the National School Games and began to make her mark in regional and international meets.

When she was 17, Shanti became the first female Singaporean to run the 100m in under 12 seconds when she clocked 11.89s at the 2013 World Youth Championships in Athletics in Donetsk, Ukraine. At the SEA Games that year, she was fourth in the 100m final. The following year Shanti became the first female Singaporean to run the 200m in under 24 seconds when she clocked 23.99s at the Asian Junior Athletics Championships.

Then at the 2015 SEA Games, 19-year-old Shanti won the bronze medal in the 100m with a time of 11.88s. It was Singapore’s first medal in the event in 42 years. She then won the gold medal in the 200m with a time of 23.60s – Singapore’s first gold medal in a sprint event in the SEA Games in 42 years.

But then Shanti hit a wall. She suffered a series of setbacks and her athletic performance slumped. In 2018 a hamstring injury threw her off her preparation for and performance at the Asian Games, and she failed to meet the targets needed to keep the Sports Excellence Scholarship (SPEX) that she had been awarded two years earlier.

Almost immediately after this, she also lost the Yip Pin Xiu Scholarship that the Singapore Management University had awarded her to study accountancy because she could not hit the minimum academic performance required of her.

The double blow hit her badly, made worse by the fact that she realised she was not interested in a career in accountancy. Her struggle with what she described as an identity crisis took its toll on her sporting career, and she found herself reluctant to train and compete because she feared she would fail.

But a few weeks before the 2022 SEA Games, she had a Eureka moment. As she explained in an interview in September 2023, her attitude suddenly switched, and she said to herself: “I’m done with feeling sorry for myself. I know this is something I want to do. I know that running is something that I was born to do. It’s made me who I am today and it’s always going to be a part of who I am. I don’t want to waste this talent I was blessed with.”

At the Hanoi SEA Games in May 2022, Shanti won the women’s 200m gold medal. This was, she said, a very significant medal for her because it came after a seven-year slump as an athlete. In October 2022 Shanti returned to the SPEX programme and soon after she quit her job in fashion in order to focus fully on her running.